Electron localization in two-dimensional percolating gold films

We have investigated the temperature dependence and magnetoresistance of thin semicontinuous gold films. We have observed a decrease of the quantum corrections to the conductivity due to two-dimensional localization effects for samples close to the percolation threshold. For these samples, quasi-one-dimensional effects appear to become important, presumably developing around the singly connected links of the percolation network. The experimental data are shown to be consistent with a model based on scaling laws of percolation and localization.