The Electron Glass in a Switchable Mirror: Relaxation, Aging and Universality

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electron glass behavior in YH$_{3- ext{delta}}$ under various conditions, revealing universal features like relaxation, aging, and scaling, and highlighting its role as a model system for electron glass phenomena.

Contribution

It demonstrates that polycrystalline YH$_{3- ext{delta}}$ exhibits universal electron glass properties, providing a systematic study of relaxation, aging, and scaling in a tunable system.

Findings

Logarithmic relaxation observed in conductivity.

Aging effects confirmed in the material.

Universal scaling behavior identified.

Abstract

The rare earth hydride YH$_{3-\delta}$ can be tuned through the metal-insulator transition both by changing $\delta$ and by illumination with ultraviolet light. The transition is dominated by strong electron-electron interactions, with transport in the insulator sensitive to both a Coulomb gap and persistent quantum fluctuations. Via a systematic variation of UV illumination time, photon flux, Coulomb gap depth, and temperature, we demonstrate that polycrystalline YH$_{3-\delta}$ serves as a model system for studying the properties of the interacting electron glass. Prominent among its features are logarithmic relaxation, aging, and universal scaling of the conductivity.