Mott criterion 2026-10-20
The approximate donor metal-insulator threshold is often written . It estimates when overlap and screening destroy isolated donor localization. The numerical coefficient is empirical and not a universal exact result; disorder, compensation and anisotropy can shift the threshold.[ref]
A hydrogenic donor has the effective Bohr radius of a hydrogenic donor
using the external .[ref] Increasing donor density causes donor states to overlap and screens their binding, allowing a metallic impurity system rather than isolated frozen-out donors.
Using the standard approximate Mott criterion, , gives
The factor 0.25 is an externally documented empirical criterion, not supplied exam data or an exact universal threshold.[ref] An order-of-magnitude overlap argument without that prefactor would give . Compensation, disorder and multivalley anisotropy affect a real material's transition; this estimate uses the scalar mass and permittivity actually supplied, without substituting other germanium parameters.