Positive Magnetoresistance in Hydrogenated Amorphous Alloys Silicon Nickel a-Si_1-yNiy:H at Very Low Temperature with Magnetic Field

We present results of an experimental study of magnetoresistance phenomenon in an amorphous silicon-nickel alloys a-Si1-yNiy:H:H (where y = 0.23) on the insulating side of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in presence of magnetic field up to 4.5 T and at very low temperature. The electrical resistivity is found to follow the Efros-Shklovskii Variable Range Hopping regime (ES VRH) with T -1/2. This behaviour indicates the existence of the Coulomb gap (CG) near the Fermi level.

Variable Range Hopping in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-Nickel Alloys

On the insulating side of the metal-insulator transition (MIT), the study of the effect of low Temperatures T on the electrical transport in amorphous silicon-nickel alloys a-Si1-yNiy:H exhibits that the electrical conductivity follows, at the beginning, the Efros-Shklovskii Variable Range Hopping regime (ES VRH) with T-1/2. This behaviour showed that long range electron-electron interaction reduces the Density Of State of carriers (DOS) at the Fermi level and creates the Coulomb gap (CG). For T higher than a critical value of temperature TC, we obtained the Mott Variable Range Hopping regime with T-1/4, indicating that the DOS becomes almost constant in the vicinity of the Fermi level. The critical temperature TC decreases with nickel content in the alloys.