Fermi nanostructured materials

In order to take advantage of nanometer-sized semiconductor clusters, one must provide an electron pathway for conduction between the particles. This has been achieved by sintering colloidal solutions deposited on conductive glasses. The resulting material is a porous nanostructured film, like that shown in Fig. 1, which retains many of the characteristics of colloidal solutions, but is in a more manageable form and may be produced in a transparent state. Furthermore, the Fermi level within each semiconductor particle can be controlled potentiostati-cally, a feature which is fundamental for the functioning of the electrochromic devices described in Section III. 

Polarization of the non-bonding electrons is responsible for the size emergence of defect and nanostructures with properties that the bulk material does not demonstrate. This kind properties include dilute magnetism, catalysis, Dirac-Fermi polaron, magnetoresistance, etc. 

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