AC Conductivity in Boron Doped Amorphous Conducting Carbon Films on the Insulating Side of MI Transition

TL;DR

This study investigates the ac conductivity of boron-doped amorphous carbon films near the metal-insulator transition, revealing tunneling conduction mechanisms and a novel inductive constant phase element likely due to electron interactions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into ac conduction mechanisms and introduces a novel inductive constant phase element in impedance modeling of these materials.

Findings

Enhanced interaction effects at low temperatures.

Conduction dominated by tunneling at high frequency and low temperature.

Identification of a new inductive constant phase element in impedance analysis.

Abstract

Boron doped amorphous conducting carbon films show MI transition induced by doping. In this paper we discuss the ac conductivity of the films, which lie on the insulating side of MI transition. The ac conductivity data is analyzed as a function of frequency as well as temperature for both real as well as imaginary part of the conductivity data. The ac conductivity of these samples shows enhanced interaction effect at low temperature. The conduction mechanism at high frequency and at low temperature is due to the tunneling mechanism. At intermediate temperatures and at moderate frequencies, the conductivity data is in good agreement with extended pair approximation modified for interaction effect. At high temperature and at low frequencies, the mechanism of ac conductivity is similar to that of dc conduction. The conductivity data for the insulating samples near the boundary of MI transition were analyzed using an RC element model. While fitting the impedance data, a new type of constant phase element (inductive instead of capacitive) was found to be appropriate. At present the origin of this inductive CPE is not is clear but we believe its origin is in the electron-electron interaction, which makes any attempt of applied frequency a slower response. Our ac conductivity results are well explained by tunneling models rather than hopping models.