Characteristic tunnel-type conductivity and magnetoresistance in a CoO-coated monodispersive Co cluster assembly

We have studied electrical conductivity, σ, and magnetoresistance in a CoO-coated monodispersive Co cluster assembly fabricated by a plasma-gas-aggregation-type cluster beam deposition technique. The temperature dependence of σ is described in the form of log σ vs 1/T for 7<T<80 K. The magnetoresistance ratio (ρ ₀-ρ _3T)/ρ ₀ increases sharply with decreasing temperature below 25 K: from 3.5% at 25 K to 20.5% at 4.2 K. This marked increase (by a factor of 6) is much larger than those observed for conventional metal-insulator granular systems. These results are ascribed to the Coulomb blockade effect in the monodispersed cluster assemblies.