Energy scales for electronic noise processes in the quasi-two-dimensional organic Mott system $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Cl

Abstract

Resistance noise spectroscopy is applied to bulk single crystals of the quasi-two-dimensional organic Mott insulator $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Cl both under moderate pressure and at ambient-pressure conditions. When pressurized, the system can be shifted to the inhomogeneous coexistence region of antiferromagnetic insulating and superconducting phases, where percolation effects dominate the electronic fluctuations [J. M\"uller {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 102}, 047004 (2009)]. Independent of the pressure conditions, at higher temperatures we observe generic $1/f^\alpha$-type spectra. The magnitude of the electronic noise is extremely enhanced compared to typical values of homogeneous semiconductors or metals. This indicates that a highly inhomogeneous current distribution may be an intrinsic property of organic charge-transfer salts. The temperature dependence of the nearly $1/f$ spectra can be very well described by a generalized random fluctuation model [Dutta, Dimon, and Horn, Phys. Rev.\ Lett. {\bf 43}, 646 (1979)]. We find that the number of fluctuators and/or their coupling to the electrical resistance depends on the temperature, which possibly relates to the electronic scattering mechanisms determining the electrical resistance. The phenomenological model explains a pronounced peak structure in the low-frequency noise at around 100 K, which is not observed in the resistivity itself, in terms of the thermally-activated conformational degrees of freedom of the ET molecules' ethylene endgroups.