Variable-range hopping conductivity in the copper-oxygen chains of La3Sr3Ca8Cu24O41
Abstract
We show that the spin chain/ladder compound La3Sr3Ca8Cu24O41 is an insulator with hopping transport along the chains. In the temperature range 35 - 280 K, DC conductivity sigmaDC(T) follows Mott's law of variable-range hopping conduction; the frequency dependence has the form sigma(, T) = σDC(T) + A(T)s, where s ≈ 1. The conduction mechanism changes from variable-range hopping to nearest-neighbor hopping around Tc =300 K. The chain array thus behaves like a one-dimensional disordered system. Disorder is due to random structural distortions of chains induced by irregular coordination of the La/Sr/Ca ions.
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