Mott transition in granular aluminum

A Mott transition in granular Al films is observed by probing the increase of the spin-flip scattering rate of conduction electrons as the nanosize metallic grains are being progressively decoupled. The presence of free spins in granular Al films is directly demonstrated by μSR measurements. Analysis of the magnetoresistance in terms of an effective Fermi energy shows that it becomes of the order of the grains electrostatic charging energy at a room temperature resistivity ρ300K≈50000μΩcm, at which a metal to insulator transition is known to exist. As this transition is approached the magnetoresistance exhibits a heavy-fermion-like behavior, consistent with an increased electron effective mass.