Electronic transport mechanism in polydiacetylene crystals - variable range hopping or phonon-assisted tunnelling

Experimental results on the current-voltage characteristics of polydiacetylene (PDA) single crystals reported by Aleshin et al [Phys. Rev. Vol. B 69, (2004) art. 214203] are reinterpreted in terms of the phonon-assisted electron tunnelling model. It is shown that the experimental results, measured in the temperature range from 1.8 K to 300 K are consistent with the tunnelling rate dependence on field strength, computed for the same range of temperatures. An advantage of this model over that of Aleshin et al, using the variable range hopping (VRH) model, is the possibility of describing the behaviour of I - V data measured at both high and low temperatures with the same set of parameters characterizing this material. This assertion is confirmed by comparison of the temperature-dependent current-voltage data extracted from Aleshin et al's work with tunnelling rate dependence on temperature, computed using two different expressions of the phonon-assisted tunnelling theory. The temperature dependence of the conductivity of an ion implanted PDA crystals [B. S. Elman et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 46, (1985) p. 100] and polypyrrole [P. Dutta et al, Synth. Met., Vol. 139 (2003) p. 201] are also explained on the basis of this model. (c) Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights reserved.