Anomalous quantum transport through a thin film of varying impurity density with the distance from the film surface

We explore a novel transport phenomenon by studying the effect of disorder on electron transport through a thin film of varying disorder strength with the distance from its surface. A simple tight-binding model is used to describe the film which is attached to two metallic electrodes, where the coupling of this film to the electrodes is treated through the use of Newns-Anderson chemisorption theory. It is found that, in the strong disorder regime the current amplitude through the film increases with the increase of the disorder strength, while it decreases in the weak disorder regime. This strange behavior is completely opposite to that of a conventional disordered system. Our results also predict that the electron transport is significantly influenced by the finite size of the thin film.