V. M. Vinokur

Granular electronic systems

Granular metals are arrays of metallic particles of a size ranging usually from a few to hundreds of nanometers embedded into an insulating matrix. Metallic granules are often viewed as artificial atoms. Accordingly, granular arrays can be treated as artificial solids with programmable electronic properties. The ease of adjusting electronic properties of granular metals assures them an important role for nanotechnological applications and makes them most suitable for fundamental studies of disordered solids. This review discusses recent theoretical advances in the study of granular metals, emphasizing the interplay of disorder, quantum effects, fluctuations, and effects of confinement. These key elements are quantified by the tunneling conductance between granules

Continuum field description of crack propagation

g

Plastic Vortex Creep in YBa2Cu3O7-x Crystals.

, the charging energy of a single granule

Multiple cotunneling in large quantum dot arrays.

{E}_{c}

Lindemann criterion and vortex-matter phase transitions in high-temperature superconductors

, the mean level spacing within a granule

Plastic Vortex Creep in YBa{sub {bold 2}}Cu{sub {bold 3}}O{sub {bold 7{minus}}}{ital x} Crystals

\ensuremath{\delta}

Localized superconductivity in the quantum-critical region of the disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition in TiN thin films.

, and the mean electronic lifetime within the granule

Evaporation and fluid dynamics of a sessile drop of capillary size

\ensuremath{\hbar}∕g\ensuremath{\delta}

Nature of the Irreversibility Line in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8

. By tuning the coupling between granules the system can be made either a good metal for

Hysteretic dynamics of domain walls at finite temperatures.

gg{g}_{c}=(1∕2\ensuremath{\pi}d)\mathrm{ln}({E}_{c}∕\ensuremath{\delta})