Conduction in metallic core/shell nanoclusters

The conducting properties of core/shell nanoclusters of two different materials - one with a metal core/semiconductor shell, and the other with a metal core/insulator shell have been investigated. Experiments carried out for the two samples under the same conditions demonstrate distinct variations in the conducting properties of both. At increasing temperatures, the metal/semiconductor core/shell sample exhibits a sharp increase in conductivity at certain threshold temperatures, as opposed to the metal/insulator structure sample that displays a gradual, almost exponential increase in conductivity. These results have been discussed in terms of standard models.