Contact Potential Variations on Freshly Condensed Metal Films at Low Pressures

Abstract
The reason for contact differences of potential is discussed. Since it is purely a surface phenomenon, subject to wide variation as the result of adsorbed and chemically combined surface layers, it is of interest to observe the change of contact potential as a function of time for various freshly evaporated metal films in high vacuums. The results thus obtained indicate characteristically different behavior for each of the six metals studied. Electrical resistance measurements made on similar metal films under similar conditions are correlated with contact potential measurements.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: