Impossibility of a pure resistance measurement: The charge-pileup model

摘要

Recently, we have experimentally demonstrated the existence of a capacitance between conductors in the absence of an insulator. We show that a combination of current continuity and Poisson's equation leads to a charge pileup, and thus a capacitance, whenever two dissimilar metals are joined. We verify this with numerical simulations, and consider this intrinsic, inescapable capacitance in the context of Coulomb blockade devices.