Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors
We describe a new possible route to the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors such as Si:P or Si:B. We explore the possibility that the loss of metallic transport occurs through Mott localization of electrons into a quantum spin liquid state with diffusive charge neutral “spinon” excita...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2012
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73876 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4203-4148 |
| _version_ | 1826210547640565760 |
|---|---|
| author | Potter, Andrew Cole Barkeshli, Maissam McGreevy, John Todadri, Senthil |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Potter, Andrew Cole Barkeshli, Maissam McGreevy, John Todadri, Senthil |
| author_sort | Potter, Andrew Cole |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We describe a new possible route to the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors such as Si:P or Si:B. We explore the possibility that the loss of metallic transport occurs through Mott localization of electrons into a quantum spin liquid state with diffusive charge neutral “spinon” excitations. Such a quantum spin liquid state can appear as an intermediate phase between the metal and the Anderson-Mott insulator. An immediate testable consequence is the presence of metallic thermal conductivity at low temperature in the electrical insulator near the metal-insulator transition. Further, we show that though the transition is second order, the zero temperature residual electrical conductivity will jump as the transition is approached from the metallic side. However, the electrical conductivity will have a nonmonotonic temperature dependence that may complicate the extrapolation to zero temperature. Signatures in other experiments and some comparisons with existing data are made. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:51:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/73876 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:51:43Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/738762022-09-29T11:01:21Z Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors Potter, Andrew Cole Barkeshli, Maissam McGreevy, John Todadri, Senthil Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Potter, Andrew Cole McGreevy, John Todadri, Senthil We describe a new possible route to the metal-insulator transition in doped semiconductors such as Si:P or Si:B. We explore the possibility that the loss of metallic transport occurs through Mott localization of electrons into a quantum spin liquid state with diffusive charge neutral “spinon” excitations. Such a quantum spin liquid state can appear as an intermediate phase between the metal and the Anderson-Mott insulator. An immediate testable consequence is the presence of metallic thermal conductivity at low temperature in the electrical insulator near the metal-insulator transition. Further, we show that though the transition is second order, the zero temperature residual electrical conductivity will jump as the transition is approached from the metallic side. However, the electrical conductivity will have a nonmonotonic temperature dependence that may complicate the extrapolation to zero temperature. Signatures in other experiments and some comparisons with existing data are made. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Cooperative Research Agreement DE-FG0205ER41360) United States. Dept. of Energy (Cooperative Research Agreement DE-FG0205ER41360) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1005434) 2012-10-11T15:07:13Z 2012-10-11T15:07:13Z 2012-08 2012-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0031-9007 1079-7114 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73876 Potter, Andrew et al. “Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors.” Physical Review Letters 109.7 (2012). © 2012 American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4203-4148 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.077205 Physical Review Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society APS |
| spellingShingle | Potter, Andrew Cole Barkeshli, Maissam McGreevy, John Todadri, Senthil Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title | Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title_full | Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title_fullStr | Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title_short | Quantum Spin Liquids and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Doped Semiconductors |
| title_sort | quantum spin liquids and the metal insulator transition in doped semiconductors |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73876 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4203-4148 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT potterandrewcole quantumspinliquidsandthemetalinsulatortransitionindopedsemiconductors AT barkeshlimaissam quantumspinliquidsandthemetalinsulatortransitionindopedsemiconductors AT mcgreevyjohn quantumspinliquidsandthemetalinsulatortransitionindopedsemiconductors AT todadrisenthil quantumspinliquidsandthemetalinsulatortransitionindopedsemiconductors |