Conductance relaxation in GeBiTe: Slow thermalization in an open quantum system

Z. Ovadyahu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This work describes the microstructure and transport properties of GeBixTey films with emphasis on their out-of-equilibrium behavior. Persistent-photoconductivity (PPC), previously studied in the phase-change compound GeSbxTey, is also quite prominent in this system. Much weaker PPC response is observed in the pure GeTe compound and when alloying GeTe with either In or Mn. Films made from these compounds share the same crystallographic structure, the same p-type conductivity, a similar compositional disorder extending over mesoscopic scales, and similar mosaic morphology. The enhanced photoconductive response exhibited by the Sb and Bi alloys may therefore be related to their common chemistry. Persistent photoconductivity is observable in GeBixTey films at the entire range of sheet resistances studied in this work (≈103Ω to ≈55MΩ). The excess conductance produced by a brief exposure to infrared illumination decays with time as a stretched exponential (Kohlrausch law). Intrinsic electron-glass effects, on the other hand, are observable in thin films of GeBixTey only for samples that are strongly localized just like it was noted with the seven electron glasses previously studied. These include a memory dip which is the defining attribute of the phenomenon. The memory dip in GeBixTey is the widest amongst the germanium-telluride alloys studied to date consistent with the high carrier concentration N≥1021cm-3 of this compound. The thermalization process exhibited in either the PPC state or in the electron-glass regime is sluggish but the temporal law of the relaxation from the out-of-equilibrium state is distinctly different. Coexistence of the two phenomena give rise to some nontrivial effects, in particular, the visibility of the memory dip is enhanced in the PPC state. The relation between this effect and the dependence of the memory-effect magnitude on the ratio between the interparticle interaction and quench disorder is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number054202
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume97
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Feb 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Physical Society.

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