Abstract
Three films (A, B and C) of discontinuous silver films whose mass thicknesses (
d
m
) are 6, 12 and 18 Å, respectively were deposited onto Corning 7059 glass substrates at ambient temperature using a thermal evaporation technique. The increase in dc resistance (
R
dc
), in air, with time (time-ageing) was monitored till short-term stability was achieved. The effect of strain on the I–V characteristics of discontinuous silver films and determination of their gauge factor (
v
) was studied and it was found that; (1) a deviation from linearity is observed at higher voltages (>60 V) and at particular voltage, the electric current increases as
d
m
increases (2)
R
dc
increases as the tensional strain (ɛ) increases and the dependence of fractional change of resistance on
ε
is linear with no hysteresis (3)
v
decreases as
d
m
increases and the high values of
ν
for these films candidates them to be miniature strain sensors. The data of this work are discussed on the ground that the thermally activated tunneling is the mechanism responsible for the electrical conduction in discontinuous silver films.