Unconventional Density Waves in Organic Conductors and in Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper reviews the discovery and characterization of unconventional density waves (UDW) in various organic conductors and superconductors, highlighting experimental signatures like magnetoresistance and Nernst effect.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent experimental and theoretical developments in identifying UDW states in organic and superconducting materials.

Findings

UDW identified in alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2KHg(SCN)_4 as UCDW

Metallic phases of Bechgaard salts exhibit USDW

Pseudogap regimes in high-Tc superconductors are d-wave density waves

Abstract

Unconventional density waves (UDW) are one of the ground states in metallic crystalline solids and have been speculated already in 1968. However, more focused studies on UDW started only recently, perhaps after the identification of the low temperature phase in alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2KHg(SCN)_4 as unconventional charge density wave (UCDW) in 2002. More recently, the metallic phase of Bechgaard salts (TMTSF)_2X with X=PF_6 and ReO_4 under both pressure and magnetic field appears to be unconventional spin density wave (USDW). The pseudogap regime of high T_c superconductors LSCO, YBCO, Bi2212 and the one in CeCoIn_5 belong to d-wave density waves (d-DW). In these identifications, the angular dependent magnetoresistance and the giant Nernst effect have played the crucial role. These are the simplest manifestations of the Landau quantization of quasiparticle energy in UDW in the presence of magnetic field (the Nersesyan effect). Also we speculate that UDW will be most likely found in alpha$-(BEDT-TTF)_2I_3, alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2I_2Br, kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2Cu(NCS)_2, kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2Cu(CN)_2Br, lambda-(BEDT)_2GaCl_4 and in many other organic compounds.