The rare earth hydride YH 3−δ can be tuned through the metal-insulator transition both by changing δ and by illumination with ultraviolet light. The transition is dominated by strong electron-electron interactions, with transport in the insulator sensitive to both a Coulomb gap and persistent quantum fluctuations. Via a systematic variation of UV illumination time, photon flux, separation between electrons, and temperature, we demonstrate that polycrystalline YH 3−δ serves as a model system for studying the properties of the interacting electron glass. Prominent among its features are logarithmic relaxation, aging, and universal scaling of the conductivity.
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