NEW OBSERVATION ON THIN DISCONTINUOUS METAL-FILMS

It is shown from the capacitance-voltage curves of metal-insulator-sem iconductor structures that molecular species in an electrolyte interac t with thin discontinuous, hydrophobic platinum films in a way similar to that in a gas phase. It is suggested that this is due to the prese nce of air volumes in the cracks of the discontinuous metal. This sugg estion is supported by theoretical models for the wetting of thin film s. The observation may have implications for the use of thin metal lay ers as the sensing material in chemical sensors for molecular species in solutions.