Electron-tunneling analysis of defect structure in near-surface layers of conducting materials

A new general approach to calculations of the tunneling characteristics of heterostructures involving nanodimensional disordered insulating films has been developed with allowance for both elastic and inelastic electron tunneling. It is shown that, by determining the value of the exponent in the dependence of the differential conductivity of these heterocontacts on the applied voltage, it is possible to characterize the structure of a transition layer between metal electrodes. The proposed approach is exemplified by analysis of the tunneling curves for silver contacts with conducting films of manganites and cuprates.