Resistivity and E.S.R. studies of graphite HOPG/fluorine intercalation compounds

D. Vaknin*, I. Palchan, D. Davidov, H. Selig, D. Moses

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present conductivity and e.s.r. studies of graphite HOPG/fluorine intercalation compounds. The in-plane resistivity, ρ{variant}a, was measured as a function of fluorine concentration and temperature using a contactless technique. The c-axis resistivity, ρ{variant}c, was measured as a function of temperature and hydrostatic pressure using the four-contact technique. The main features of our results can be summarized as follows: 1. (1) The conductivity along the planes increases initially with fluorine concentration and reaches a maximum conductivity of σa0 ≅ 11 (σ0 is the in-plane conductivity of HOPG). Above a concentration of x = 0.18 in C1 - xFx the conductivity, σa, dramatically decreases. 2. (2) ρ{variant}a is 'metallic' for concentrations x < 0.2 and can be fitted to the equation: ρ{variant}a = A + BT + CT2. For x = 0.25, the in-plane resistivity is significantly larger and temperature independent. 3. (3) The c-axis resistivity, ρ{variant}c, versus temperature exhibits a clear maximum for x < 0.2 but is anomalously large and almost temperature independent for x = 0.25. We suggest that carrier localization due to structural deformation and consequent changes in the band structure are responsible for the limiting conductivity. However, a percolation mechanism and domain-wall formation might also play an important role. The maximum in c-axis resistivity is attributed to a cross-over between two mechanisms of conduction: 'tunneling' or 'conducting path' mechanisms at low temperatures, but a hopping mechanism at high temperatures. The activation energy for hopping is extracted, as well as its pressure dependence. Finally, we provide a critical analysis of previous interpretations of carrier spin resonance in GICs. We have critically checked the theory of Dyson by measuring the A/B ratio, ρ{variant}a and ρ{variant}c versus temperatures on the same samples. We demonstrate that extracting bulk resistivities from the e.s.r. lineshape may not be justified.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)349-365
Number of pages17
JournalSynthetic Metals
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1986

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