Suppression of universal conductance fluctuations by an electric field in doped Si(P,B) near the metal–insulator transition

We present results of 1/f noise measurements at low frequency (View the MathML source) and at low temperatures (View the MathML source) in single crystals of Si doped with P and B. The doping concentration n is close to the critical composition nc of the metal–insulator transition (MIT). We observed that the noise which originates from the universal conductance fluctuation, can be suppressed effectively by an electric field of moderate magnitude at View the MathML source. Near the critical region of MIT (n≈nc) the suppression is extremely large. We show that this effect can originate by dephasing arising from an electric field in presence of electron–electron interaction.