Study of the Electrical Properties of Thin Silica Layers with a Single Plane of AgNPs Embedded Near the Surface

The present work explores the effect of metal inclusions (silver nanoparticles, AgNPs) on the electrical mechanisms (charge injection, trapping and transport) responsible for dielectric charging in thin silica layers. It is shown that the presence of a plane of AgNPs embedded in a thin SiO
2
layer modifies the electrical conduction in the structure. When the AgNPs-plane is embedded near the SiO
2
surface, the structure behaviour at low electric field is non-ohmic and does not allow calculation of the classical volume conductivity. Instabilities in the behaviour of the structure are observed for high electric fields. They are most likely due to sequences of breakdown/self-healing phenomena that clearly appear for fields higher than 10
⁸
V/m.