Fyzikální ústav Akademie věd ČR

One of the basic features of any material is its ability to conduct an electrical current. Although the electrical conductivity varies with temperature, for most materials the division between metals and insulators is given by their chemical composition and crystallographic structure. There are, however, compounds which can be converted from a metal to an insulator and vice versa by a small variation of external parameters such as pressure or temperature.

The results of long term research of silicon thin films achieved in the Institute of Physics have been recognized by invitation of RNDr. Jan Kočka, DrSc., head of the Department of Thin Films and Nanostructures of the Institute of Physics, to deliver the plenary “Mott lecture” at the 24th International Conference on Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Semiconductors (www.icans24.org).