title: Percolation-induced conductor-insulator transition in a system of metal spheres in a dielectric fluid.
abstract: We develop a model to investigate the insulator-conductor transition observed in a system of spherical metal particles suspended in a quasi-two-dimensional viscous liquid between planar electrodes when the voltage of the electrodes is increased. Our model captures the main ingredients of the process in experimental system, and reveals the insulator-conductor transition at a well-defined critical voltage. Based on the simulation data we demonstrate that characteristic quantities of the system show power-law scaling in the vicinity of the critical point. These scaling analysis show clearly that the transition between the insulating and conducting phases is analogous to second-order phase transitions.
authors: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Sun
authors: Kunquan
authors: K
authors: Lu
authors: Ferenc
authors: F
authors: Kun