Measurements of conductivity near the metal-insulator critical point

Abstract

We present measurements of the electrical conductivity at low temperatures of bulk samples of Si:P under uniaxial stress controlled to bring the samples within 0.1% of the metal-insulator transition. As the metal approaches the critical point, we find that the power law of the temperature correction to the conductivity predicted for weak Coulomb interactions continues to fit, but that its sign, size, and range of validity change. Its size defines a diffusion temperature which tends towards zero at the critical density, at which point the power law itself appears to change.