  The complex conductivity at the (Verwey) metal-insulator transition in
Fe_3O_4 has been investigated at THz and infrared frequencies. In the
insulating state, both the dynamic conductivity and the dielectric constant
reveal a power-law frequency dependence, the characteristic feature of hopping
conduction of localized charge carriers. The hopping process is limited to low
frequencies only, and a cutoff frequency nu_1 ~ 8 meV must be introduced for a
self-consistent description. On heating through the Verwey transition the
low-frequency dielectric constant abruptly decreases and becomes negative.
Together with the conductivity spectra this indicates a formation of a narrow
Drude-peak with a characteristic scattering rate of about 5 meV containing only
a small fraction of the available charge carriers. The spectra can be explained
assuming the transformation of the spectral weight from the hopping process to
the free-carrier conductivity. These results support an interpretation of
Verwey transition in magnetite as an insulator-semiconductor transition with
structure-induced changes in activation energy.
