Transport properties of electrons in energy band tails

Transport properties of electrons in energy band tails of disordered semiconductors are studied experimentally using a material system in which (i) the width and shape of the band-tail are approximately known and (ii) the Fermi energy is controllable. The material is heavily-doped, closely-compensated, crystalline n-GaAs whose compensation ratio can be made arbitrarily close to unity by the use of two techniques that are described in detail. This control of the Fermi level through compensation permits the measurement of the transport properties of electrons at various energies in the band-tail.

Using band tails having a width of ～50 meV, measurements have been made of the temperature dependence of the d.c. conductivity and Hall coefficient, the frequency dependence of the a.c. conductivity and the electric field dependence of the d.c. conductivity (the last two at low temperatures).

The evidence demonstrates the progressively greater localization of states deeper in the tails. No sign is found of a sharp mobility edge. There is a number of close similarities to the properties of amorphous semiconductors but some significant differences. The frequency dependence of the a.c. conductivity at low temperatures is essentially identical with that of amorphous semiconductors in accord with the general interpretation that conductivity at low temperatures takes place by electron hopping among localized states near the Fermi energy. The detailed temperature dependence of the d.c. conductivity at low temperatures is log σ=σ ₀ exp [?(T ₀/T)^1/2], thus disagreeing with a theoretical expectation that the exponent for low temperature hopping conduction should be 1/4. At low temperatures, the electric field dependence of the conductivity shows a variation as σ～exp (bF/T) over a considerable range extending down to field strengths close to 1 V/cm. This closely resembles recent observations on amorphous semiconductors but the range of field strengths here is lower by several orders of magnitude.     

Dielectric-spectroscopic and a.c. conductivity studies on layered Na2-XKXTi3O7 (X=0.2, 0.3, 0.4) ceramics

The dependence of loss tangent (tanδ) and relative permittivity (ε_r) on temperature and frequency has been reported for Na_2-XK_XTi₃O₇ (with X=0.2, 0.3, 0.4) ceramics. The losses are characteristic of dipole mechanism and electrical conduction. The peaks of ε_r at high temperature indicate a possible ferroelectric phase transition for all three compositions. The results of a.c. conductivity studies on the same samples have also been reported. The corresponding ln(σT) versus 1000/T plots have been divided into five regions namely I, II, III, IV and V. The various conduction mechanisms in the different regions have been stressed. Furthermore, the log(σ) versus frequency plots for all the above samples reveal that the electronic hopping (polaron) conduction, which diminishes with the rise in temperature, is dominant in the lower temperature region. The interlayer ionic conduction seems to play a major role in conduction towards higher temperature.     

Electrical conduction properties of Si δ-doped GaAs grown by MBE

The temperature dependent Hall effect and resistivity measurements of Si δ-doped GaAs are performed in a temperature range of 25–300 K. The temperature dependence of carrier concentration shows a characteristic minimum at about 200 K, which indicates a transition from the conduction band conduction to the impurity band conduction. The temperature dependence of the conductivity results are in agreement with terms due to conduction band conduction and localized state hopping conduction in the impurity band. It is found that the transport properties of Si δ-doped GaAs are mainly governed by the dislocation scattering mechanism at high temperatures. On the other hand, the conductivity follows the Mott variable range hopping conduction (VRH) at low temperatures in the studied structures.     

Electrical properties and dielectric relaxation of thermally evaporated zinc phthalocyanine thin films

The electrical transport properties and dielectric relaxation of Au/zinc phthalocyanine, ZnPC/Au devices have been investigated. The DC thermal activation energy at temperature region 400-500 K is 0.78 eV. The dominant conduction mechanisms in the device are ohmic conduction below 1 V and space charge limited conduction dominated by exponential trap distribution in potentials >1 V. Some parameters, such as concentration of thermally generated holes in valence band, the trap concentration per unit energy range at the valence band edge, the total concentration of traps and the temperature parameter characterizing the exponential trap distribution and their relation with temperatures have been determined. The AC electrical conductivity, σ_ac, as a function of temperature and frequency has been investigated. It showed a frequency and temperature dependence of AC conductivity for films in the temperature range 300-400 K. The films conductivity in the temperature range 400-435 K increased with increasing temperature and it shows no response for frequency change. The dominant conduction mechanism is the correlated barrier hopping. The temperature and frequency dependence of real and imaginary dielectric constants and loss tangent were investigated.     

The hopping variable range conduction in amorphous InAs thin films

This paper studies the influence of temperature on electrical resistivity in α-InAs thin films between 30 K-2K based on the analysis of Mott VRH model and ES VRH model. The effect of the interactions between electrons at lower temperature must be considered, therefore, ES VRH conduction will dominate mechanism, and the crossover from Mott to ES VRH conduction is observed about 7 K. Based on available experiment data and VRH conduction model, the parameters of VRH conduction are determined. And the calculated values of T_C are consistent with the experimental results. In addition, R_M/ξ, Δ_M/kT, R_ES/ξ and Δ_ES/kT are satisfied with the validity of Mott and ES models. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of resistivity at low temperature obeys a universal scaling law, which well describes the overall temperature range of VRH conduction. However, the values of T^’_M from the universal function are two order of magnitudes lower than T_M deduced from fitting experiment.     

Manifestation of coulomb gap in two-dimensional <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-GaAs-AlGaAs structures with filled upper Hubbard band

The transport properties of multilayer GaAs/AlGaAs structures doped modulationally with Be so as to fill, in equilibrium, the states of upper Hubbard band (A⁺ centers) with holes were studied. For the concentration of dopants on the order of 5×10¹¹cm^?2, the hopping conduction over the states in the Coulomb gap was observed in the temperature range 0.4–4 K. The characteristic temperature (T₁) was determined from the temperature dependence of conductance and found to be appreciably lower (by 30 times) than its theoretically predicted value. This discrepancy is assumed to be due to the correlated hopping effect. In the temperature dependence of magnetoresistance, the suppression of negative magnetoresistance was observed with lowering temperature. This is explained by the weakness of underbarrier scattering in the transport via the upper Hubbard band.     

Doping effects arising from Ni for Fe in PrFeO3 ceramic thin films

Structural, morphological and transport properties of PrFe_{1? x} Ni _x O₃ (x?=?0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) thin films grown on LaAlO₃ substrate by pulsed laser deposition were studied experimentally. Structural analysis of the samples showed that they have in-plane compressive strain and single-phase epitaxial growth along with c-axis (001) orientation having orthorhombic structure with space group Pbnm. The observed strain is reduced with Ni substitution. The resistivity as a function of temperature follows the variable range hopping (VRH) model up to certain amount of Ni substitution (x?=?0.3) but fails for higher values of x. From the above model, parameters such as density of states at the Fermi level, N(E _F), hopping energy, E _h, and hopping distance R _h, were calculated. Ni substitution leads to an increase in conductivity and this conduction is controlled by disorder-induced localization of charge carriers. With Ni substitution the gap parameter is found to decrease. The enhancement in conductivity and the failure of VRH model for higher doped compositions at high temperature is discussed.     

钽掺杂二氧化钛薄膜的光电性能研究

采用脉冲激光沉积法 (PLD), 以石英玻璃为衬底制备了钽掺杂TiO₂薄膜并研究了薄膜样品的光电性质. 沉积氧气分气压从0.3 Pa变化到0.7 Pa时薄膜样品的帯隙变化范围是3.26 eV到3.49 eV. 通过测量电阻率随温度的变化关系确定了薄膜内部的主要导电机理. 在150 K到210 K温度范围内, 热激发导电机理是主要的导电机理; 而在10 K到150 K范围内; 电导率随温度的变化复合Mott的多级变程跳跃模型 (VRH); 在210 K到300 K范围内, 电阻率和exp(b/T)^1/2呈正比关系. 关键词： 2')" href="#">Ta掺杂TiO₂ 脉冲激光沉积法 薄膜 导电机理     

Effect of substitutions on dielectric behavior of La2NiMnO6

The substituted La₂NiMnO₆ (LNMO) double perovskite powder samples are prepared by hydroxide co-precipitation method. The electrical properties such as conductivity, dielectric constant and impedance analysis of the substituted sample, have been studied. The activation energy is determined by dc conductivity plot gives the fair idea of conduction mechanism. The dielectric and impedance analysis suggests the contribution of extrinsic and intrinsic effects in dielectric relaxation due to substitution at A and B site cations. The Nyquist plot reveals the role of grain and grain boundaries in charge conduction mechanism. The large grain and grain boundary resistance value and activation energy ～100 meV of substituted LNMO samples shows the presence of variable range hopping (VRH) conduction mechanism.     

Effects of photoexcitation on the current transport mechanism in amorphous indium selenide thin films

The effect of photoexcitation on the current transport mechanism in amorphous indium selenide thin films was studied by means of dark and illuminated conductivity measurements as a function of temperature. Analysis of the dark electrical conductivity in the temperature range 110–320 K reveals behaviour characteristic of carriers excited to the conduction band and thermally assisted variable-range hopping (VRH) at the Fermi level above 280 K and below 220 K, respectively. In the temperature range 220–280 K, a mixed conduction mechanism was observed. A conductivity activation energy of ～300 meV (above 280 K), a density of localised states (evaluated assuming a localisation length of 5 Å) of 1.08 × 10²¹ cm^?3 eV^?1, an average hopping distance of 20.03 Å (at 120 K) and an average hopping energy of 27.64 meV have been determined from the dark electrical measurements. When the sample was exposed to illumination at a specific excitation flux and energy, the values of the conductivity activation energy, the average hopping energy and the average hopping range were significantly decreased. On the other hand, the density of localised states near the Fermi level increased when the light flux was increased. Such behaviour was attributed to a reversible Fermi level shift on photoexcitation.     

Electrical properties of a-Ge<Subscript>x</Subscript>Se<Subscript>100-<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

In general, the conductivity in chalcogenide glasses at higher temperatures is dominated by band conduction (DC conduction). But, at lower temperatures, hopping conduction dominates over band conduction. A study at lower temperature can, eventually, provide useful information about the conduction mechanism and the defect states in the material. Therefore, the study of electrical properties of Ge_xSe_100-x in the lower temperature region (room temperature) is interesting. Temperature and frequency dependence of Ge_xSe_{100-x (x} = 15, 20 and 25) have been studied over different range of temperatures and frequencies. An agreement between experimental and theoretical results suggested that the behaviour of germanium selenium system (Ge_xSe_100-x ) have been successfully explained by correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model.     

Proton conductivity and ferroelectric phase transition in hydrogen-bonded ferroelectric NH4IO3

We report on the ac dielectric permittivity (ε) and the electric conductivity (σ_ω), as function of the temperature 300?K?T4IO₃. The main feature of our measured parameters is that, the compound undergoes a ferroelectric phase transition of an improper character, at (368?±?1)K from a high temperature paraelectric phase I (Pm2₁ b) to a low temperature ferroelectric phase II (Pc21n). The electric conduction seems to be protonic. The frequency dependent conductivity has a linear response following the universal power law (σ_{( ω )}?=?A(T)ω ^{s (T)}). The temperature dependence of the frequency exponent s suggests the existence of two types of conduction mechanisms.     

Non-adiabatic polaron hopping conduction in CaMn1−xCrxO3 (0?x?0.3)

DC electrical conductivity (σ_dc) of electron-doped antiferromagnetic CaMn_1−xCr_xO₃ (0?x?0.3) has been discussed elaborately in the light of polaron hopping conduction. The increase in Cr doping concentration increases the conductivity and decreases the activation energy. Non-adiabatic polaron hopping conduction is observed in all the manganites at high temperatures. The analysis of σ_dc data shows that small polarons are formed at lower concentrations (?5%) of Cr doping and undoped samples. However, large polarons are materialized at higher doping (?10%) concentrations. This is consistent with the fact that doped Cr³⁺ has larger ionic size compared to that of Mn⁴⁺. Again, strong electron-phonon (e-ph) interaction is perceived in undoped and 5% Cr-doped samples but not in manganites with larger doping concentration. This also confirms the formation of larger polarons with the increase of x. Mott's variable range hopping (VRH) model can elucidate the dc conductivity at very low temperatures. It has been detected that single phonon-assisted hopping is responsible for the dc conduction in the Cr-doped CaMnO₃ manganites.     

Non-adiabatic small-polaron hopping conduction in VN–PbO–TeO2 glasses

The dc conductivity of VN–PbO–TeO₂ glasses with different mole percentages of VN, PbO and TeO₂ has been measured in the temperature range 125–450?K. The conductivity of the glasses increases with increasing VN content for a fixed mole percentage of PbO. Neither Mott's variable-range hopping (VRH) model at low temperatures (T<Θ_D/4, where Θ_D is the Debye temperature) nor Greaves’ VRH model at intermediate temperatures (Θ_D/?4<T<Θ_D/2) describe the dc conductivity data for these glasses. Multiphonon tunnelling transport of strongly coupled electrons is also unable to account for the carrier transport. However, at high temperatures (T?>?Θ_D/2), conduction is shown to be due to small-polaron hopping in the non-adiabatic regime. Alteration of the VN content causes a change in the model parameters achieved from best-fitting curves for the glasses. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry analysis shows that the glass transition temperatures T _g in this system vary from 269 to 302°C.     

Dielectric behavior and low temperature phase transition in NH4IO3

The electrical properties namely ac conductivity σ(ω,?T) and the complex dielectric permittivity (ε*) are measured at selected frequencies (5–100?kHz) as function of temperature (95?K?T?4IO₃. The ferroelectric hysteresis loops and the X-ray diffraction pattern are also measured. The analysis of the data indicates that the compound undergoes a structural phase transition at ～103?K and the behavior of σ(ω,?T) obeys the power law. The trend of the temperature dependence of the angular frequency exponent s (0?s?4IO₃; (2) the data indicate that the compound undergoes a structural phase transition at 103?K; (3) the originality of this transition has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction; (4) no evidence for the existence of a ferroelectric transition at 103?K as mentioned earlier; and (5) the quantum mechanical tunneling is proposed as the main mechanism of the electric conduction.     

AC conductivity and dielectric behavior of bulk Furfurylidenemalononitrile

AC conductivity and dielectric behavior for bulk Furfurylidenemalononitrile have been studied over a temperature range (293–333 K) and frequency range (50–5×10⁶ Hz). The frequency dependence of ac conductivity, σ_ac, has been investigated by the universal power law, σ_ac(ω)=Aω^s. The variation of the frequency exponent (s) with temperature was analyzed in terms of different conduction mechanisms, and it was found that the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model is the predominant conduction mechanism. The temperature dependence of σ_ac(ω) showed a linear increase with the increase in temperature at different frequencies. The ac activation energy was determined at different frequencies. Dielectric data were analyzed using complex permittivity and complex electric modulus for bulk Furfurylidenemalononitrile at various temperatures.     

Low-temperature hopping conduction over the upper Hubbard band in p-GaAs/AlGaAs multilayered structures

The low-temperature 2D variable range hopping conduction over the states of the upper Hubbard band is investigated in detail for the first time in multilayered Be-doped p-type GaAs/AlGaAs structures with quantum wells of 15-nm width. This situation was realized by doping the layer in the well and a barrier layer close to the well for the upper Hubbard band (A ⁺ centers) in the equilibrium state filled with holes. The conduction was of the Mott hopping type in the entire temperature range (4?0.4 K). The positive and negative magnetoresistance branches as well as of non-Ohmic hopping conduction at low temperature are analyzed. The density of states and the localization radius, the scattering amplitude, and the number of scatterers in the upper Hubbard band are estimated. It is found that the interference pattern of phenomena associated with hopping conduction over the A ⁺ band is qualitatively similar to the corresponding pattern for an ordinary impurity band, but the tunnel scattering is relatively weak.     

Influence of grain size on the electrical properties of the double-layered LaSr2Mn2O7 manganite

The double-layered LaSr₂Mn₂O₇ manganite was synthesized by the sol–gel process. Two samples with the average grain size from ～150 nm to ～1 μm were prepared by controlling the sintering temperature. Both samples had a tetragonal structure, with a small fraction of impurity phase in the S-1250 sample. In order to investigate the probable influence of grain size on the conduction mechanism, resistivity of the samples was measured as a function of temperature, and the data obtained was analyzed by different conduction mechanisms. It was found that with increase in the grain size, resistivity decreased at all temperature ranges. The results show that the adiabatic small polaron hopping (SPH) model is probably responsible for conduction at high temperature range, and that the 3D variable range hopping (VRH) model shows a better correlation with the experimental data for low temperature range. These analyses indicate the influence of grain size on the parameters obtained from fitting the data by both models.     

High-temperature phase transitions in the improper ferroelectric KIO3

The ac conductivity (σ_ac) and dielectric permittivity (?) are determined in the temperature range 300?K?T3 compound. The results indicated that the compound behaves as an improper ferroelectric and undergoes a ferroelectric phase transition from a high temperature rhombohedral phase I to a low temperature monoclinic phase II at T _c?=?(486?±?1)?K. A second structural phase transition was observed around 345?K. The conductivity varies with temperature range and for T?>?428?K intrinsic conduction prevails. Different activation energies in the different temperature regions were calculated. The frequency dependence of σ(ω) was found to follow the universal dynamic response [σ(ω)∝(ω) ^s(T)]. The thermal behaviour of the frequency exponent s(T) suggests the hopping over the barrier model rather than the quantum mechanical tunneling model for the conduction mechanism.     

Anisotropic properties and conduction mechanism of TlInSe2 chain semiconductor

TlInSe₂ chain crystals were prepared using the modification of the Bridgman technique. The grown crystals were identified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We investigate the anisotropy of transport properties for the first time for TlInSe₂ crystals. Temperature dependence of the dc electrical conductivity, Hall coefficient, Hall mobility, and charge carrier concentration were investigated in the temperature range 184–455 K. The conduction mechanism of TlInSe₂ crystals was studied, and measurements revealed that the dc behavior of the grown crystals can be described by Mott’s variable range hopping (VRH) model in the low temperature range, while it is due to thermoionic emission of charge carriers over the chain boundaries above 369 K. The Mott temperature, the density of states at the Fermi level, and the average hopping distance are estimated in the two crystallographic directions. The temperature dependence of the ac conductivity and the frequency exponent, s, is reasonably well interpreted in terms of the correlated barrier-hopping CBH model.