Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-3-2010

Abstract

We present results of out-of-equilibrium transport measurements made on strongly localized Beryllium films and demonstrate that these films exhibit all the earmarks of intrinsic electron glasses. These include slow (logarithmic) relaxation, memory effects, and more importantly, the observation of a memory dip that has a characteristic width compatible with the carrier concentration of beryllium. The latter is an empirical signature of the electron glass. Comparing various nonequilibrium attributes of the beryllium films with other systems that exhibit intrinsic electron-glasses behavior reveals that high carrier concentration is their only common feature rather than the specifics of the disorder that rendered them insulating. It is suggested that this should be taken as an important hint for any theory that attempts to account for the surprisingly slow relaxation times observed in these systems. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

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