<p> Presented here is a detailed study of electron transport in highly disordered insulating materials (HDIM). Since HDIMs do not lend themselves to a lattice construct, the question arises: How can we describe their electron transport behavior in a consistent theoretical framework? In this work, a large group of experiments, theories, and physical models are coalesced into a single formalism to better address this difficult question. We find that a simple set of macroscopic transport equations--cast in a new formalism--provides an excellent framework in which to consider a wide array of experimentally observed behaviors. It is shown that carrier transport in HDIMs is governed by the transport equations that relate the density of localized states (DOS) within the band gap and the occupation of these states through thermal and quantum interactions. The discussion is facilitated by considering a small set of simple DOS models. This microscopic picture gives rise to a clear understanding of the macroscopic carrier transport in HDIMs. We conclude with a discussion of the application of this theoretical formalism to four specific types of experimental measurements employed by the Utah State University space environments effects Materials Physics Group.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3606878 |
| Date | 12 February 2014 |
| Creators | Sim, Alec |
| Publisher | Utah State University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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