Variable range hopping conduction in semiconductor nanocrystal solids

Abstract

The temperature and electrical field dependent conductivity of n-type CdSe nanocrystal thin films is investigated. In the low electrical field regime, the conductivity follows G ~ exp(-(T*/T)^0.5) in the temperature range 10K<T<120K. At high electrical field, the conductivity is strongly field dependent. At 4K, the conductance increases by eight orders of magnitude over one decade of bias. At very high field, conductivity is temperature-independent with G ~ exp(-(E*/E)^0.5). The complete behavior is very well described by variable range hopping with Coulomb gap.