Transport properties of the composite material carbon-poly(vinyl chloride)

We have found that at low temperatures the transport properties of carbon-poly(vinyl chloride) composites are governed by tunneling of carriers across a barrier that is modulated by temperature-activated fluctuations. The current-voltage characteristics can be divided into three regimes. At low dc fields the materials are Ohmic; at a critical dc field, the materials enter a thermally activated breakdown regime; above the breakdown field the I−V characteristic may be studied with voltage pulses and the material is non-Ohmic. The dependence of the resistivity ρ on temperature is discussed.