Transport in polyaniline near the critical regime of the metal-insulator transition

Abstract

Critical behavior of the electrical conductivity near the disorder-induced metal-insulator (MI) transition has been observed in polyaniline (PANI) doped with camphor sulfonic acid (CSA). The temperature dependence of the resistivity (ρ) depends on the degree of disorder present in the PANI-CSA films. In the most metallic samples the resistivity is nearly temperature independent; whereas in the critical region of MI transition, ρ(T) is characterized by a power-law temperature dependence, ρ(T)∝${\mathit{T}}^{\mathrm{-}\mathrm{\beta }}$. Resistivity ratios ρ(1.4 K)/ρ(300 K) as low as 1.6 have been observed in the most metallic samples of PANI-CSA. In the metallic regime, the conductivity is characterized by σ(T)=σ(0)+${\mathit{mT}}^{1/2}$ at low temperatures; the dependence of m(H) on magnetic field provides information on the role of electron-electron interactions in the transport near the MI transition. The ${\mathit{T}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$ dependence found for inelastic-scattering time (${\mathrm{\tau }}_{\mathrm{in}}$) is in agreement with that predicted for metallic systems near the MI transition. For the samples initially in the critical regime, a magnetic field of 8–10 T induces the transition to variable-range hopping. The typical localization length in PANI-CSA just on the insulating side of the MI transition is about 80–130 Å. The magnitude of the positive magnetoresistance increases considerably as the system moves from the metallic to the insulating regime. The magnitude and quasilinear temperature dependence of the thermopower near the critical regime of the MI transition is typical of that expected for a metal.