Evolution of the density of states at the Fermi level across the metal-to-insulator crossover in alkali doped zeolite

Abstract: We report a systematic nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of the $^{23}$Na spin-lattice relaxation rate, $1/T_1$, in sodium loaded low-silica X (LSX) zeolite, Na$n$/Na${12}$-LSX, for various loading levels of sodium atoms $n$ across the metal-to-insulator crossover. For high loading levels of $n \geq 14.2$, $1/T_1T$ shows nearly temperature-independent behavior between 10 K and 25 K consistent with the Korringa relaxation mechanism and metallic ground state. As the loading levels decrease below $n \leq 11.6$, the extracted density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level sharply decreases, although a residual DOS at Fermi level is still observed even in samples that lack the metallic Drude-peak in the optical reflectance. The observed crossover is a result of a complex loading-level dependence of electric potential felt by the electrons confined to zeolite cages, where the electronic correlations and disorder both play an important role.