Effect of hydrogen and cluster morphology on the electronic behavior of Ni-Nb-Zr-H glassy alloys with subnanometer-sized icosahedral Zr ₅Ni₅Nb₅ clusters

The effects of hydrogen content and cluster morphology on the electronic transport behavior of (Ni_0.36Nb_0.24Zr_0.40) _100-xH_x (0 < × < 20) glassy alloys containing distorted nanostructural icosahedral Zr₅Nb₅Ni₃ clusters have been studied. When the hydrogen content is less than 7 at%, the hydrogen atom is localized between Ni atoms of neighboring distorted icosahedral Zr₅Ni₅Nb₃ clusters. The I_d-V _g-B characteristics of the (Ni_0.36Nb_0.4Zr _0.40)₉₀H₁₀ glassy alloy field-effect transistor (GAFET) showed room-temperature three-dimensional Coulomb oscillation and the Fano effect, which arises from interference of electrons traveling through two different cluster configurations, namely a localized discrete state inside the quantum dot and a continuum in the arm.