Granular hopping conduction in (Ag,Mo)$_x$(SnO$_2$)$_{1-x}$ films in the dielectric regime

TL;DR

This study investigates the temperature-dependent electrical conductivity of granular Ag and Mo films below the percolation threshold, revealing a hopping conduction mechanism consistent with the Abeles-Sheng model and a crossover to tunneling at higher temperatures.

Contribution

It provides experimental validation of the Abeles-Sheng model for granular films and details how structural parameters influence conduction in the dielectric regime.

Findings

Conductivity follows a $\sigma o ext{exp}[-(T_0/T)^m]$ law with $m \,\simeq\, 1/2$.

Optimal grain separation and charging energy increase as metal fraction decreases.

A crossover to tunneling conduction occurs above approximately 100 K.

Abstract

We have studied the temperature dependence of conductivity, $\sigma(T)$, in two series of Ag$_{x}$(SnO$_2$)$_{1-x}$ and Mo$_{x}$(SnO$_2$)$_{1-x}$ granular films lying below the percolation threshold, where $x$ is the metal volume fraction. The metal grains in the former series have approximately spherical shape, whereas in the latter series contain numerous small substructures. In both series of films, we have observed the $\sigma \propto \exp[-(T_0/T)^m]$ temperature dependence, with $m\,\simeq\,1/2$, over the wide $T$ range from 2 to 80 (100) K, where $T_0$ is a characteristic temperature. Our $\sigma$($T$) results are explained in term of the Abeles-Sheng model which considers the structural effect of metal grains. The extracted values of the optimal separation between grains ($s_{m}$) and the charging energy ($E_{c}$) slightly increase with decreasing $x$. The variation of the parameter $C(x)$, defined in the Abeles-Sheng model, is in consistency with a simplified expression which depends only on $x$ and the dielectric constant of the insulating matrix. As the temperature is increased to above $\sim$\,100 K, a crossover to the thermally fluctuation-induced tunneling conduction processes is observed.