The MOSFET Inversion Layer: The Conductivity of a Localized, Highly Correlated Phase

Abstract

We propose that the electrons in the localized regime (close to the threshold for metallic conduction) form a highly correlated electron liquid and discuss the a.c.-conductivity of such a liquid. In particular we discuss the d.c.-limit in a Wigner lattice phase. We find that defect migration contributes a term of the form σ = σi exp (-W/kBT) where σi is density dependent in qualitative agreement with experiments on devices with little disorder.