Study of the I–V characteristics of nanostructured Pd films on a Si substrate after vacuum annealing

The I–V characteristics of nanostructured Pd films on a Si substrate are investigated. The nanostructures (nanoislands) are formed by the vacuum annealing of continuous ultrathin Pd films sputtered onto a substrate. The shape of the I–V characteristics of the investigated Si substrate-Pd film system is shown to be heavily dependent on the degree of film nanostructuring. The surface morphology of the films is studied using scanning electron microscopy.