Temperature dependence of conductivity arising from electron-electron interaction effects in amorphous metals

We present an analysis of the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity $\sigma$ of several amorphous metals over a wide temperature range, showing the importance of both localization effects and electron-electron interactions in these materials. At the lowest temperatures $\sigma$ varies as $T^{\frac{1}{2}}$ and this, taken in conjunction with a positive magnetoresistance, indicates the importance of quantum corrections. However, above ~20 K, $\sigma$ is shown to increase linearly with $T$, changing again to $T^{\frac{1}{2}}$ at higher temperatues still—a combined variation that is in accordance with localization phenomena. The temperature dependence of $\sigma$ in nonmagnetic metallic glasses can, therefore, be fully explained by quantum corrections to the "Boltzmann" conductivity.