Kinetic Size Effects in Multilayer Films with a Polycrystalline Structure

Abstract

In a given review, the results of theoretical and experimental investigations of transport size effects in multilayer polycrystalline films (MLF), whose kinetic characteristics are appreciably differing from the characteristics of bulk metals and thin films forming these multilayers, are systemized. Interaction of current carriers with both the interfaces and the grain boundaries is the main cause of the difference. It leads to the nonmonotonic dependence of transport coefficients on the layer thicknesses and applied magnetic field. The kinetic effects discussed in the review may be used to analyse electron transport in single-crystalline multilayer films. Moreover, taking into account a formal equivalence between the multilayer and the two-layer film, one may use these results to investigate transport characteristics of bilayer films.

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