Variable-range hopping conductivity in the copper-oxygen chains of La_3Sr_3Ca_8Cu_24O_41

Abstract

We show that the spin chain/ladder compound La_3Sr_3Ca_8Cu_24O_41 is an insulator with hopping transport along the chains. In the temperature range 35 - 280 K, DC conductivity sigma_{DC}(T) follows Mott's law of variable-range hopping conduction; the frequency dependence has the form sigma(ν, T) = σ_{DC}(T) + A(T)ν^{s}, where s \approx 1. The conduction mechanism changes from variable-range hopping to nearest-neighbor hopping around T_{c} =300 K. The chain array thus behaves like a one-dimensional disordered system. Disorder is due to random structural distortions of chains induced by irregular coordination of the La/Sr/Ca ions.

4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in PRB

References in corpus (2)

• Sliding Density-Wave in Sr_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41} Ladder Compounds
• Charge-density wave formation in Sr_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41}

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Suppression of the charge-density-wave state in Sr_14Cu_24O_41 by calcium doping
• Collective Charge Excitations below the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in BaVS3
• Transport in a Dissipative Luttinger Liquid
• From Luttinger to Fermi liquids in organic conductors
• Effects of Ca substitution on quasi-acoustic sliding modes in Sr${}_{14-x}$Ca${}_x$Cu${}_{24}$O${}_{41}$