Conductivity of Two-dimensional Dirac Electrons Close to Merging in Organic Conductor $\alpha$-STF$_2$I$_3$ at Ambient Pressure

TL;DR

This study theoretically investigates the anisotropic conductivity of Dirac electrons in the organic conductor $ ext{α}$-STF$_2$I$_3$, revealing how proximity to Dirac point merging influences electrical transport properties at ambient pressure.

Contribution

It introduces a two-dimensional tight-binding model accounting for impurity and electron-phonon scatterings to analyze conductivity anisotropy near Dirac point merging in STF.

Findings

$\sigma_x$ exceeds $\sigma_y$ due to Dirac point anisotropy.

$\sigma_x$ shows a broad maximum with increasing temperature.

The conductivity ratio $\sigma_x/\sigma_y$ aligns well with experimental data.

Abstract

The electric conductivity of Dirac electrons in the organic conductor $\alpha$-STF$_2$I$_3$ (STF = bis(ethylenedithio)diselenadithiafulvalene), which has an isostructure of ET(=bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene), has been theoretically studied using a two-dimensional tight-binding model in the presence of both impurity and electron-phonon (e-p) scatterings.In contrast to ET, which has a Dirac cone with almost isotropic velocity, STF provides a large anisotropy owing to a Dirac point that is close to merging. As a result, $\sigma_{x}$ becomes much larger than $\sigma_{y}$, where $\sigma_y$ and $\sigma_x$ are diagonal conductivities parallel and perpendicular to a stacking axis of molecules, respectively. With increasing temperature ($T$), $\sigma_x$ takes a broad maximum because of e-p scattering and $\sigma_y$ remains almost constant. The ratio $\sigma_x/\sigma_y$ is analyzed in terms of the band structure. Such an exotic conductivity of STF is compared with that of an experiment showing a good correspondence. Finally, $\sigma_x/\sigma_y$ values of ET and BETS(= bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene) are shown to demonstrate the dissimilarity with STF.