The Influence of Phase Separation on Structure and Electronic Transport in Solid-State Physics

This book provides solutions and answers to physical problems in solid-state physics that have eluded scientific explanation for decades. Examples of such unsolved physics problems are:• Why are there simple metals with positive thermopower, although according to classical theory the thermopower of simple metals should always be negative?• What are the reasons for the different structures in sputtered, respective evaporated, thin films: amorphous, granular or fractal structures depending on the composition of the film alloys? • Why can amorphous metal layers exist at all, although the crystalline state is the more stable? • What is the secret of good adhesion of thin metal films to insulator substrates? • Why does the electrical conductivity σ of a thin metal layer decrease exponentially with decreasing layer thickness? • Is there a finite minimum metallic conductivity? • What is the cause of the phenomenon of the “Giant Hall Effect” in metal insulator layers?• What is the reason for Mooij's correlation? This text is intended for physicists, chemists, materials scientists, nano- and biotechnologists, students and interested laymen.