Chemical localization

The possibility that, in spite of high valence electron concentrations, metal-insulator transitions can in principle occur in materials composed of atoms of only metallic elements is demonstrated based on the analysis of experimental data. For such a transition to occur, stable atomic configurations forming deep potential wells capable of trapping dozens of valence electrons should appear in the system. This means, in essence, that bulk metallic medium transforms into an assembly of identical quantum dots. Depending on the parameters, such a material either does contain delocatized electrons (metal) or does not contain such electrons (insulator). The degree of disorder is one of these parameters. Two types of substances with such properties are discussed: liquid binary alloys with both components being metallic, and thermodynamically stable quasicrystals.