Glassy behavior of electrons near metal-insulator transitions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron glassy behavior emerges near metal-insulator transitions, highlighting the roles of disorder and interactions, and predicts an intermediate metallic glass phase in disordered systems.

Contribution

It reveals the contrasting effects of Anderson and Mott localization on electron glassiness and predicts a new metallic glass phase near transitions.

Findings

Anderson localization stabilizes glassy behavior

Mott localization suppresses glassiness

Intermediate metallic glass phase predicted in disordered systems

Abstract

The emergence of glassy behavior of electrons is investigated for systems close to the disorder and/or interaction-driven metal-insulator transitions. Our results indicate that Anderson localization effects strongly stabilize such glassy behavior, while Mott localization tends to suppress it. We predict the emergence of an intermediate metallic glassy phase separating the insulator from the normal metal. This effect is expected to be most pronounced for sufficiently disordered systems, in agreement with recent experimental observations.