Is ballistic transportation or quantum confinement responsible for changes in the electrical properties of thin polymer films?

Abstract

Resistivities of thin polymer films increase abruptly with decreasing thickness, although the corresponding decline in resistance plateaus below a certain thickness. One can jump to the incorrect conclusion that quantum confinement and surface scattering are responsible for this behaviour, and we highlight the pitfalls of committing such an error. © 2012, Royal Society of Chemistry