Size effects in thin gold films: Discrimination between electron-surface and electron-grain boundary scattering by measuring the Hall effect at 4 K

Abstract

We report the Hall effect measured in gold films evaporated onto mica substrates, the samples having an average grain diameter D that ranges between 12 and 174 nm, and a thickness t of approximately 50 nm and 100 nm. The Hall mobility was determined at low temperatures T (4 K ≤ T ≤ 50 K). By tuning the grain size during sample preparation, we discriminate whether the dominant collision mechanism controlling the resistivity of the samples at 4 K is electron-surface or electron-grain boundary scattering, based upon whether the Hall mobility depends linearly on film thickness t or on grain diameter D.