Bechgaard salt

Abstract: The transverse magnetoresistance of the Bechgaard salt (TMTSF)[sub 2]NO[sub 3] has been measured up to 37 T at ambient pressure in the temperature range from 2 to 77 K. When the magnetic field is parallel to the lowest conductivity direction [ital c][sup *] and for temperatures higher than [similar to]12 K, the data can be accounted for by a power law, the exponent of which decreases as the anion ordering takes place. At lower temperatures, the magnetic field increases the spin-density-wave (SDW) transition temperature, in overall agreement with theoretical predictions for the imperfect-nesting case. Two oscillation series, both linked to the SDW state, have been observed in the 2--10 K range. Their temperature-independent frequencies, measured from 2 to 8 K, are at (63[plus minus]2) and (248[plus minus]5) T, respectively. These oscillations have been studied (at 4.2 K) as a function of the field direction. They were found to deviate from the two-dimensional model since, in particular, their behavior differs according to whether the field is tilted on one side of the [ital c][sup *] direction or on the other. The oscillation data are discussed on the basis of recent calculations of Yakovenko.

Abstract: In a small range of pressure, superconductivity (SC) and Spin Density Wave (SDW) states are shown to coexist in the Bechgaard salt (TMTSF)2PF6 and the Fabre salt (TMTTF)2BF4. In (TMTSF)2PF6, a precise investigation of the (P,T) phase diagram has led us to demonstrate the coexistence of the two phases with a superconducting critical temperature which is pressure independent while the critical current at zero field is strongly depressed as the pressure is decreased. In (TMTTF)*BF4, using non-linear transport measurements, we present the signature of the presence of 1D superconducting filaments in a small range of pressure. We also investigate the compound under a magnetic field applied along the c*-axis : the upper critical field is more or less pressure independent and is about 2 Tesla (at zero temperature). We suggest that such a high critical field is compatible with the penetration of the magnetic field in the insulating regions of the compound in a similar way of Josephson vortices in layered superconductors.