Quantum and thermal phase transitions in the Bechgaard salts and their analogs

We report thermal transport measurements performed on the quasi-one-dimensional Bechgaard salts (TMTSF)2ClO4 and (TMTSF)2PF6 along the a-direction. For both salts, magnon-drag effects are found to contribute considerably to thermopower above 80 K. These results imply spin-charge separation in the metallic state for both salts. Moreover, a linear temperature-dependent thermal conductivity is found to be unaffected by anion disorder below an anion ordering transition temperatur...

We examine the various instabilities of quarter-filled strongly correlated electronic chains in the presence of a coupling to the underlying lattice. To mimic the physics of the (TMTTF)$_2$X Bechgaard-Fabre salts we also include electrostatic effects of intercalated anions. We show that small displacements of the anion can stabilize new mixed Charged Density Wave-Bond Order Wave phases in which central symmetry centers are suppressed. This finding is discussed in the context ...

Using density functional theory, we determine parameters of tight-binding Hamiltonians for a variety of Fabre charge transfer salts, focusing in particular on the effects of temperature and pressure. Besides relying on previously published crystal structures, we experimentally determine two new sets of structures; (TMTTF)$_2$SbF$_6$ at different temperatures and (TMTTF)$_2$PF$_6$ at various pressures. We find that a few trends in the electronic behavior can be connected to th...

The infrared response of the organic conductor (TMTSF)$_2$PF$_6$ and the Mott insulator (TMTTF)$_2$PF$_6$ are investigated as a function of temperature and pressure and for the polarization parallel and perpendicular to the molecular stacks. By applying external pressure on (TMTTF)$_2$PF$_6$, the Mott gap rapidly diminishes until the deconfinement transition occurs when the gap energy is approximately twice the interchain transfer integral. In its deconfined state (TMTTF)$_2$...

The transverse magnetoresistance of the Bechgaard salt (TMTSF)$_2$PF$_6$ has been measured for various pressures, with the field up to 24 T parallel to the lowest conductivity direction c$^{\ast}$. A quadratic behavior is observed in the magnetic field dependence of the spin-density-wave (SDW) transition temperature $T_{\rm {SDW}}$. With increasing pressure, $T_{\rm {SDW}}$ decreases and the coefficient of the quadratic term increases. These results are consistent with the pr...

We review some properties of quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors, such as the Bechgaard salts, with an emphasis on aspects related to the crossovers between a Mott insulating state to a metallic state, and crossovers between different metallic behaviors. We discuss why a theoretical description of these issues is a particularly challenging problem, and describe a recent non-perturbative approach designed to deal with systems of coupled chains. This method, dubbed "chain-...

Among known Bechgaard and Fabre salts (TMTSF)2NO3 is unique since it never becomes superconducting even under pressure. Also, though (TMTSF)2NO3 undergoes the spin density wave (SDW) transition, the low temperature transport is semimetallic and gapless. We propose: a) the absence of the superconductivity is due to the inverse symmetry breaking associated with the anion ordering at 45K; b) the SDW state below 9K should be unconventional as seen from the angle dependent magneto...

Recent experiments indicate that the Bechgaard salts (TMTSF)$_2$ ClO$_4$ and (TMTSF)$_2$ PF$_6$ may be unconventional triplet superconductors. The quasiparticle density of states and the uniform spin susceptibility tensor are computed at low temperatures for order parameter symmetries, as an attempt to narrow the number of possibilities based on experimental evidence.

We theoretically investigate the interplay between charge ordering and magnetic states in quasi-one-dimensional molecular conductors TMTTF$_2X$, motivated by the observation of a complex variation of competing and/or coexisting phases. We show that the ferroelectric-type charge order increases two-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin correlation, whereas in the one-dimensional regime two different spin-Peierls states are stabilized. By using first-principles band calculations f...

The symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in Bechgaard salts is still unknown, though the triplet pairing is well stablished by NMR data and large upper critical field. Here we examine the upper critical field of a few candidate superconductors within the standard formalism. The present analysis suggests strongly chiral f-wave superconductor somewhat similar to the one in Sr_2RuO_4 is the most likely candidate.