When are thin films of metals metallic?

Interplay between plasmons and the band structure for the Mo(112) surface

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] This mechanism of the enhancement of the surface photoemission is widely recognized and has been reported for clean surfaces and thin films of simple metals. 3,11,14,15 The mapping of the bulk band structure, using photoemission techniques, 7,[16][17][18] can be facilitated by enhanced cross section ͑and therefore more intense peaks in the photoemission spectra͒ through the Coster-Kronig resonant optical transitions, as allowed by the photoemission selection rules. Identification of the bands, however, is complicated by surface and adsorbate umklapp processes [19][20][21] and surface reconstructions, in particular, well known to occur with molybdenum surfaces.…”

Metal–insulator transition in a layer adsorbed on a metal electrode

“…Beyond a critical lattice constant, the screening would be absent and the system would be an insulator. The accompanying phase transition would be first order [11,15].…”

“…Consequently, the system becomes nonmetallic. Whether the system ultimately becomes insulating or remains metallic depends on the gain of energy due to gap formation and the energy required to distort the lattice [11]. A doubling of periodicity leading to a mid-band gap formation and an ensuing non-metallic phase also occurs in an antiferromagnetic system [17].…”

“…In the case where the number of electrons per lattice site differs from two, a partially filled band results and the solid would behave as a metal. In the context of chemisorption at a metaljvacuum interface, Wilson type transitions for divalent metal atoms have been observed [11,12].…”

Formation of linear structures of Sr and Gd films on the Mo(112) and W(112) surfaces

“…The great interest in the quite special behavior of atomic wires, in large part, has been caused by the potential for creation of conductors of the smallest possible dimensions. However, the linear alkaline earth chains on the furrowed transition metal surfaces do not exhibit strong metallic character but, rather, may be considered as dielectric atomic chains [1,[3][4][5][6][7].…”