Hopping localization

Figure 5.57 (a) Complex impedance response (plot of the imaginary part of the complex modulus M" versus the real part M in the complex plane) of a monolayer (3.5 nm diameter) of propanethiol pped Ag nanoparticles. The particle film response is characterized initially by an RC circuit equivalent, in conformity with a picture of capacitively determined hopping localized conductivity. As the particles are compressed to a separation of less than 0.6 nm, the film becomes inductive, indicating the presence of... 

As is to be expected, inherent disorder has an effect on electronic and optical properties of amorphous semiconductors providing for distinct differences between them and the crystalline semiconductors. The inherent disorder provides for localized as well as nonlocalized states within the same band such that a critical energy, can be defined by distinguishing the two types of states (4). At E = E, the mean free path of the electron is on the order of the interatomic distance and the wave function fluctuates randomly such that the quantum number, k, is no longer vaHd. For E < E the wave functions are localized and for E > E they are nonlocalized. For E > E the motion of the electron is diffusive and the extended state mobiHty is approximately 10 cm /sV. For U <, conduction takes place by hopping from one localized site to the next. Hence, at U =, )J. goes through a... 

Semiconductivity in oxide glasses involves polarons. An electron in a localized state distorts its surroundings to some extent, and this combination of the electron plus its distortion is called a polaron. As the electron moves, the distortion moves with it through the lattice. In oxide glasses the polarons are very localized, because of substantial electrostatic interactions between the electrons and the lattice. Conduction is assisted by electron-phonon coupling, ie, the lattice vibrations help transfer the charge carriers from one site to another. The polarons are said to "hop" between sites. 

Tlie suffices i and J refer to individual atoms and S and Sj to the species of the atoms involved. The summation over j extends over those neighbors of the atom i for which ry, the separation of atoms i and J, is within the cutoff radii of these potentials. The second term in Equation (la) is the attractive many-body term and both V and are empirically fitted pair potentials. A Justification for the square root form of the many-body function is provided in the framework of a second moment approximation of the density of states to the tight-binding theory incorporating local charge conservation in this framework the potentials represent squares of the hopping integrals (Ackland, et al. 1988). 

Because polarons are localized species, their natural transport mechanism is hopping. We shall now briefly describe the small polaron model, as developed by Holstein and Emin [26, 29, 46]. 

More recently, a comprehensive model has been developed by Vissenberg and Matters [120 to account for these data. The model is based on a variable range-hopping system with an exponential distribution of localized slates (Eq. (14.71)). The... 

A celebrated derivation of the temperature dependence of the mobility within the hopping model was made by Miller and Abrahams 22. They first evaluated the hopping rate y,y, that is the probability that an electron at site i jumps to site j. Their evaluation was made in the case of a lightly doped semiconductor at a very low temperature. The localized states are shallow impurity levels their energy stands in a narrow range, so that even at low temperatures, an electron at one site can easily find a phonon to jump to the nearest site. The hopping rate is given by... 

Another famous hopping model is Mott s variable range hopping [23], in which it is assumed that the localized sites are spread over the entire gap. At low temperatures, the probability to find a phonon of sufficient energy to induce a jump to the nearest neighbor is low, and hops over larger distances may be more favorable. In that case, the conductivity is given by... 

Besides its temperature dependence, hopping transport is also characterized by an electric field-dependent mobility. This dependence becomes measurable at high field (namely, for a field in excess of ca. 10d V/cm). Such a behavior was first reported in 1970 in polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) [48. The phenomenon was explained through a Poole-ITenkel mechanism [49], in which the Coulomb potential near a charged localized level is modified by the applied field in such a way that the tunnel transfer rale between sites increases. The general dependence of the mobility is then given by Eq. (14.69)... 

The UHF solution appears when the hopping integral t becomes small and leads to a spin density wave. The localization of the MOs leads to a and b atom centered orbitals, localized around odd and even labelled atoms respectively. 

Solid mixed ionic-electronic conductors (MIECs) exhibit both ionic and electronic (electron-hole) conductivity. Naturally, in any material there are in principle nonzero electronic and ionic conductivities (a i, a,). It is customary to limit the use of the term MIEC to those materials in which a, and 0, 1 do not differ by more than two orders of magnitude. It is also customary to use the term MIEC if a, and Ogi are not too low (o, a i 10 S/cm). Obviously, there are no strict rules. There are processes where the minority carriers play an important role despite the fact that 0,70 1 exceeds those limits and a, aj,i< 10 S/cm. In MIECs, ion transport normally occurs via interstitial sites or by hopping into a vacant site or a more complex combination based on interstitial and vacant sites, and electronic (electron/hole) conductivity occurs via delocalized states in the conduction/valence band or via localized states by a thermally assisted hopping mechanism. With respect to their properties, MIECs have found wide applications in solid oxide fuel cells, batteries, smart windows, selective membranes, sensors, catalysis, and so on. 

The localization of the HOMO is also important for another reason. Since it describes the distribution of a hole in a radical cation, it relates to the hindrance that a positive charge will encounter as it propagates along the chain. There is indeed experimental evidence (9) that the hole states of the polysilane chain are localized and that they move by a hopping mechanism. 

The above mechanistic aspect of electron transport in electroactive polymer films has been an active and chemically rich research topic (13-18) in polymer coated electrodes. We have called (19) the process "redox conduction", since it is a non-ohmic form of electrical conductivity that is intrinsically different from that in metals or semiconductors. Some of the special characteristics of redox conductivity are non-linear current-voltage relations and a narrow band of conductivity centered around electrode potentials that yield the necessary mixture of oxidized and reduced states of the redox sites in the polymer (mixed valent form). Electron hopping in redox conductivity is obviously also peculiar to polymers whose sites comprise spatially localized electronic states. 

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