A percolation model of the conduction threshold in thick-film resistors: segregated structures

Abstract

The possibility of applying percolation theory to the sheet resistivity of thick-film resistors, noted for the segregation of conducting particles in grain boundaries between sufficiently large particles of glass, is investigated. The experiments, carried out on model resistor films, do not satisfy the models of Malliaris and Turner and R.P. Kusy. A new model, based on the distribution of threshold concentration for two-dimensional systems of finite size, was suggested. The theoretical values of conducting pigment critical concentration in the model films studied, which are in good agreement with the experimental results, are calculated on the basis of this model.