Temperature and field dependence of Dynamics in the Electron-Glass

TL;DR

This paper investigates how temperature and electric fields influence the dynamics of electron glasses in crystalline indium-oxide films, revealing behaviors indicative of quantum-glass characteristics and comparing effects of temperature and electric fields.

Contribution

It introduces experimental methods to quantify electron-glass dynamics and demonstrates their application in analyzing temperature and electric field effects in crystalline indium-oxide.

Findings

Dynamics slow down with increasing temperature in certain ranges.

Non-ohmic electric fields produce similar effects as temperature increases.

Quantitative differences exist between effects of electric fields and temperature.

Abstract

We describe several experimental methods to quantify dynamics in electron glasses and illustrate their use in the glassy phase of crystalline indium-oxide films. These methods are applied to study the dependence of dynamics on temperature and on non-ohmic electric fields at liquid helium temperatures. It is shown that over a certain range of temperature the dynamics becomes slower with temperature or upon increasing an applied non-ohmic field, a behavior suggestive of a quantum-glass. It is demonstrated that non-ohmic fields produce qualitatively similar results as raising the system temperature. Quantitatively however, their effect may differ marekdly. The experimental advantages of using fields to mimic higher temperature are pointed out and illustrated.