Influence of stacking disorder on the electronic properties of layered semiconductors

The influence of stacking disorder on the electronic properties of layered materials is discussed. It is shown that the problem of stacking disorder is equivalent to the problem of one-dimensional disordered chains. Consequently, the presence of stacking disorder leads to a localization of the electronic wave functions in the direction perpendicular to the layers. The localization lengths are estimated in the framework of a tightbinding model. Results of dc measurements on GaSe indicate that transport along the $c$ axis is indeed strongly affected by stacking disorder.