Electronic Properties of Metallic Fine Particles. I.

Abstract

The level spacing of quantized electronic states becomes fairly large in very fine particles. For instance, it will be comparable to kT at T=1°K if the linear dimension of a particle is 50 Å or so. Thermal properties may show considerable deviations from the normal bulk values for such fine particles. The heat capacity will be reduced to about two-thirds and the paramagnetic susceptibility may be enhanced. Even more important effects are expected for relaxation processes. They are discussed briefly, but more detailed treatments will be given in a forth-coming paper.