Measurement of elasticity and conductivity of a three-dimensional percolation system

Abstract

Measurements have been made of electrical conductivity and Young’s modulus of a set of sintered, submicron, silver-powder beams with occupied volume fractions (f) in the range 0.1 to 0.3. The results show clear evidence for a percolation threshold at ${\mathrm{f}}_{\mathrm{c}}$=0.062±0.01. The conductivity and elasticity critical exponents, measured in the range 0.6≤(f-${\mathrm{f}}_{\mathrm{c}}$)/${\mathrm{f}}_{\mathrm{c}}$≤4, were t=2.15±0.25 and τ=3.8±0.5, in agreement with recent theories and numerical simulations that show τ>t, 1.65<t<2.2, and τ>3.55 in three dimensions.