X-ray Irradiation-induced Carrier Doping Effects in Organic Dimer-Mott Insulators

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that X-ray irradiation introduces defects in organic dimer-Mott insulators, effectively doping carriers and significantly reducing resistivity, which alters their electrical properties.

Contribution

It reveals that X-ray irradiation can induce carrier doping in organic dimer-Mott insulators through defect formation, a novel method for tuning their electronic properties.

Findings

Resistivity decreased by 40% after irradiation.

Metal-like behavior observed down to 50 K.

Defects likely cause local charge imbalance and doping.

Abstract

We report X-ray irradiation-induced carrier doping effects on the electrical conductivity in the organic dimer-Mott insulators $\kappa$-(ET)$_{2}$$X$ with $X =$ Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl and Cu$_{2}$(CN)$_{3}$. For $\kappa$-(ET)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl, we have observed a large decrease of the resistivity by 40 % with the irradiation at 300 K and the metal-like temperature dependence down to about 50 K. The irradiation-induced defects expected at the donor molecule sites might cause a local imbalance of the charge transfer in the crystal. Such molecular defects result in the effective doping of carriers into the half-filled dimer-Mott insulators.