A New Type of Trapping Center for Molecules with Dipole Moments in Insulators

An analysis of the mechanism underlying the sensitivity of metal-insulator-semiconductor sensors to the concentration of a variety of gases, as well as of a number of experiments, suggests the formation of electrically charged trapping centers for molecules with dipole electric moments in thin insulating layers doped by catalytic metals. It is assumed that these traps are essentially nanoclusters consisting of atoms of the insulator and atoms of the catalytic metal. Trapping centers of this type may be involved in other physical phenomena as well.