Violation of Kohler's rule by the magnetoresistance of a quasi-two-dimensional organic metal

The interlayer magnetoresistance of the quasi-two-dimensional metal $\alpha$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$KHg(SCN)$_4$ is considered. In the temperature range from 0.5 to 10 K and for fields up to 10 tesla the magnetoresistance has a stronger temperature dependence than the zero-field resistance. Consequently Kohler's rule is not obeyed for any range of temperatures or fields. This means that the magnetoresistance cannot be described in terms of semiclassical transport on a single Fermi surface with a single scattering time. Possible explanations for the violations of Kohler's rule are considered, both within the framework of semi-classical transport theory and involving incoherent interlayer transport. The issues considered are similar to those raised by the magnetotransport of the cuprate superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX + epsf, 2 figures. Slightly revised version to appear in Physical Review B, May 15, 199

Temperature dependence of the interlayer magnetoresistance of quasi-one-dimensional Fermi liquids at the magic angles

The interlayer magnetoresistance of a quasi-one-dimensional Fermi liquid is considered for the case of a magnetic field that is rotated within the plane perpendicular to the most-conducting direction. Within semi-classical transport theory dips in the magnetoresistance occur at integer amgic angles only when the electronic dispersion parallel to the chains is nonlinear. If the field direction is fixed at one of the magic angles and the temperature is varied the resulting variation of the scattering rate can lead to a non-monotonic variation of the interlayer magnetoresistance with temperature. Although the model considered here gives a good description of some of the properties of the Bechgaard salts, (TMTSF)2PF6 for pressures less than 8kbar and (TMTSF)2ClO4 it gives a poor description of their properties when the field is parallel to the layers and of the intralayer transport.Comment: 10pages, RevTeX + epsf, 3 figure

On the Relationship Between the Critical Temperature and the London Penetration Depth in Layered Organic Superconductors

We present an analysis of previously published measurements of the London penetration depth of layered organic superconductors. The predictions of the BCS theory of superconductivity are shown to disagree with the measured zero temperature, in plane, London penetration depth by up to two orders of magnitude. We find that fluctuations in the phase of the superconducting order parameter do not determine the superconducting critical temperature as the critical temperature predicted for a Kosterlitz--Thouless transition is more than an order of magnitude greater than is found experimentally for some materials. This places constraints on theories of superconductivity in these materials.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

The High Magnetic Field Phase Diagram of a Quasi-One Dimensional Metal

We present a unique high magnetic field phase of the quasi-one dimensional organic conductor (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$. This phase, termed "Q-ClO$_4$", is obtained by rapid thermal quenching to avoid ordering of the ClO$_4$ anion. The magnetic field dependent phase of Q-ClO$_4$ is distinctly different from that in the extensively studied annealed material. Q-ClO$_4$ exhibits a spin density wave (SDW) transition at $\approx$ 5 K which is strongly magnetic field dependent. This dependence is well described by the theoretical treatment of Bjelis and Maki. We show that Q-ClO$_4$ provides a new B-T phase diagram in the hierarchy of low-dimensional organic metals (one-dimensional towards two-dimensional), and describe the temperature dependence of the of the quantum oscillations observed in the SDW phase.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, preprin

Determination of the Fermi Velocity by Angle-dependent Periodic Orbit Resonance Measurements in the Organic Conductor alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4

We report detailed angle-dependent studies of the microwave (f=50 to 90 GHz) interlayer magneto-electrodynamics of a single crystal sample of the organic charge-density-wave (CDW) conductor alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4. Recently developed instrumentation enables both magnetic field (B) sweeps for a fixed sample orientation and, for the first time, angle sweeps at fixed f/B. We observe series' of resonant absorptions which we attribute to periodic orbit resonances (POR) - a phenomenon closely related to cyclotron resonance. The angle dependence of the POR indicate that they are associated with the low temperature quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) Fermi surface (FS) of the title compound; indeed, all of the resonance peaks collapse beautifully onto a single set of f/B versus angle curves, generated using a semiclassical magneto-transport theory for a single Q1D FS. We show that Q1D POR measurements provide one of the most direct methods for determining the Fermi velocity, without any detailed assumptions concerning the bandstructure; our analysis yields an average value of v_F=6.5x10^4 m/s. Quantitative analysis of the POR harmonic content indicates that the Q1D FS is strongly corrugated. This is consistent with the assumption that the low-temperature FS derives from a reconstruction of the high temperature quasi-two-dimensional FS, caused by the CDW instability. Detailed analysis of the angle dependence of the POR yields parameters associated with the CDW superstructure which are consistent with published results. Finally, we address the issue as to whether or not the interlayer electrodynamics are coherent in the title compound.Comment: 28 pages, including 6 figures. Submitted to PR

Quantum oscillations in quasi-one-dimensional metals with spin-density-wave ground states

We consider the magnetoresistance oscillation phenomena in the Bechgaard salts (TMTSF)(2)X, where X = ClO4, PF6, and AsF6 in pulsed magnetic fields to 51 T. Of particular importance is the observation of a new magnetoresistance oscillation for X = ClO4 in its quenched state. In the absence of any Fermi-surface reconstruction due to anion order at low temperatures, all three materials exhibit nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the oscillation amplitude in the spin-density-wave (SDW) state. We discuss a model where, below a characteristic temperature T* within the SDW state, a magnetic breakdown gap opens. [S0163-1829(99)00904-2]

Magnetothemopower study of quasi two-dimensional organic conductor α\alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2_2KHg(SCN)4_4

We have used a low-frequency magneto-thermopower (MTEP) method to probe the high magnetic field ground state behavior of $\alpha$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$KHg(SCN)$_4$ along all three principal crystallographic axes at low temperatures. The thermopower tensor coefficients ($S_{xx}, S_{yx}$ and $S_{zz}$) have been measured to 30 T, beyond the anomalous low temperature, field-induced transition at 22.5 T. We find a significant anisotropy in the MTEP signal, and also observe large quantum oscillations associated with the de Haas - van Alphen effect. The anisotropy indicates that the ground state properties are clearly driven by mechanisms that occur along specific directions for the in-plane electronic structure. Both transverse and longitudinal magnetothermopower show asymptotic behavior in field, which can be explained in terms of magnetic breakdown of compensated closed orbits.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Connective Tissue Growth Factor Promotes Pulmonary Epithelial Cell Senescence and Is Associated with COPD Severity

The purpose of this study was to determine whether expression of CTGF protein in COPD is consistent in humans and animal models of COPD and to investigate the role of this protein in lung epithelial cells. CTGF in lung epithelial cells of ex-smokers with COPD was compared with ex-smokers without COPD by immunofluorescence. A total of twenty C57Bl/6 mice and sixteen non-human primates (NHPs) were exposed to CS for four wks. Ten mice of these CS-exposed mice and eight of the CS-exposed NHPs were infected with H3N2 influenza A virus (IAV) while the remaining ten mice and eight NHPs were mock-infected with vehicle as control. Both mRNA and protein expression of CTGF in lung epithelial cells of mice and NHPs were determined. The effects of CTGF overexpression on cell proliferation, p16 protein, and senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity were examined in cultured human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). In humans, CTGF expression increased with increasing COPD severity. We found that protein expression of CTGF was upregulated in lung epithelial cells in both mice and NHPs exposed to CS and infected with IAV compared to those exposed to CS only. When over-expressed in HBECs, CTGF accelerated cellular senescence accompanied by p16 accumulation. Both CTGF and p16 protein expression in lung epithelia positively associated with the severity of COPD in ex-smokers. These findings show that CTGF is consistently expressed in epithelial cells of COPD lungs. By accelerating lung epithelial senescence CTGF may block regeneration relative to epithelial cell loss and lead to emphysema

Coexistence or Separation of the Superconducting, Antiferromagnetic, and Paramagnetic Phases in Quasi One-Dimensional (TMTSF)2PF6 ?

We report on experimental studies of the character of phase transitions in the quasi-1D organic compound (TMTSF)2PF6 in the close vicinity of the borders between the paramagnetic metal PM, antiferromagnetic insulator AF, and superconducting SC states. In order to drive the system through the phase border P_0(T_0), the sample was maintained at fixed temperature T and pressure P, whereas the critical pressure P_0 was tuned by applying the magnetic field B. In this approach, the magnetic field was used (i) for tuning (P-P_0), and (ii) for identifying the phase composition (due to qualitatively different magnetoresistance behavior in different phases). Experimentally, we measured R(B) and its temperature dependence R(B,T) in the pressure range (0 - 1)GPa. Our studies focus on the features of the magnetoresistance at the phase transition between the PM and AF phases, in the close vicinity to the superconducting transition at T~1K. We found pronounced history effects arising when the AF/PM phase border is crossed by sweeping the magnetic field: the resistance depends on a trajectory which the system arrives at a given point of the P-B-T phase space. In the transition from the PM to AF phase, the features of the PM phase extends well into the AF phase. At the opposite transition from the AF to PM phase, the features of the AF phase are observed in the PM phase. These results evidence for a macroscopically inhomogeneous state, which contains macroscopic inclusions of the minority phase. When the system is driven away from the transition, the homogeneous state is restored; upon a return motion to the phase boundary, no signatures of the minority phase are observed up to the very phase boundary.Comment: 10 figures, 23 page