We briefly review the physics of electronic phases in low dimensional conductors. We begin by introducing the properties of the one-dimensional electron gas model using bosonization and renormalization group methods.We then tackle the influence of interchain coupling and go through the different instabilities of the electron system to the formation of higher dimensional states. The connection with observations made in quasi-one-dimensional organic and inorganic conductors is discussed.

C. Bourbonnais

The phase diagram of the layered organic superconductor $\kappa$-(ET)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl has been accurately measured from a combination of $^{1}$H NMR and AC susceptibility techniques under helium gas pressure. The domains of stability of antiferromagnetic and superconducting long-range orders in the pressure {\it vs} temperature plane have been determined. Both phases overlap through a first-order boundary that separates two regions of inhomogeneous phase coexistence. The boundary curve is found to merge with another first order line related to the metal-insulator transition in the paramagnetic region. This transition is found to evolve into a crossover regime above a critical point at higher temperature. The whole phase diagram features a point-like region where metallic, insulating, antiferromagnetic and non s-wave superconducting phases all meet.

S. Lefebvre P. Wzietek S. Brown C. Bourbonnais D. Jerome C. Meziere M. Fourmigue P. Batail

We review the properties of quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors: the Bechgaard salts and their sulfur analogs in their normal phase precursor tolong-range order. We go through the main observations made in the normal state of these systems at low magnetic field and tackle the issue of their description under the angles of the Fermi and Luttinger liquid pictures.

C. Bourbonnais D. Jerome

The interference between spin-density-wave and superconducting instabilities in quasi-one-dimensional correlated metals is analyzed using the renormalization group method. At the one-loop level, we show how the interference leads to a continuous crossover from a spin-density-wave state to unconventional superconductivity when deviations from perfect nesting of the Fermi surface exceed a critical value. Singlet pairing between electrons on neighboring stacks is found to be the most favorable symmetry for superconductivity. The consequences of non uniform spin-density-wave pairing on the structure of phase diagram within the crossover region is also discussed.

Raphael Duprat C. Bourbonnais

We use the Density-Matrix Renormalization Group to study the single-particle and two-particle correlation functions of spinless fermions in the ground state of a quarter-filled ladder. This ladder consists of two chains having an in-chain extended Coulomb interaction reaching to third neighbor and coupled by inter-chain hopping. Within our short numerical coherence lengths, typically reaching ten to twenty sites, we find a strong renormalization of the interchain hopping and the existence of a dimensional crossover at smaller interactions. We also find power exponents for single-particle hopping and interchain polarization consistent with the single chain. The total charge correlation function has a larger power exponent and shows signs of a crossover from incoherent fermion hopping to coherent particle-hole pair motion between chains. There are no significant excitation energies.

L. G. Caron C. Bourbonnais

The interdependence of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in the Bechgaard salts series of organic conductors is examined in the light of the anomalous temperature dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate. We apply the renormalization group approach to the electron gas model to show that the crossover from antiferromagnetism to superconductivity along with the anomalous nuclear relaxation rate of the Bechgaard salts can be well described within a unified microscopic framework. For sizable nesting deviations of the Fermi surface, scaling theory reveals how pairing correlations enhance short-range antiferromagnetic correlations via magnetic Umklapp scattering over a large part of the metallic phase that precedes superconductivity. These enhanced magnetic correlations are responsible for the Curie-Weiss behavior observed in the NMR relaxation rate.

C. Bourbonnais A. Sedeki

We use the weak coupling renormalization group method to examine the interplay between charge-density-wave and s-wave superconducting orders in a quasi-one-dimensional model of electrons interacting with acoustic phonons. The relative stability of both types of order is mapped out at arbitrary nesting deviations and Debye phonon frequency $\omega_D$. We singled out a power law increase of the superconducting $T_c\sim \omega_D^{0.7}$ from a quantum critical point of charge-density-wave order triggered by nesting alterations. The results capture the key features shown by the proximity between the two types of ordering in the phase diagram of the recently discovered Perylene based organic superconductor under pressure. The impact of Coulomb interaction on the relative stability of the competing phases is examined and discussed in connection with the occurrence of s-wave superconductivity in low dimensional charge-density-wave materials.

H. Bakrim C. Bourbonnais

An inductive method is used to follow the magnetic field-dependent susceptibility of the coupled charge density wave (CDW) and spin-Peierls (SP) ordered state behavior in the dual chain organic conductor Perylene$_2$[Pt(mnt)$_2$]. In addition to the coexisting SP-CDW state phase below 8 K and 20 T, the measurements show that a second spin-gapped phase appears above 20 T that coincides with a field-induced insulating phase. The results support a strong coupling of the CDW and SP order parameters even in high magnetic fields, and provide new insight into the nature of the magnetic susceptibility of dual-chain spin and charge systems.

L. E. Winter J. S. Brooks P. Schlottmann M. Almeida S. Benjamin C. Bourbonnais

We report an investigation of charge, spin and lattice effects in the spin-Peierls state of the organic compound MEM(TCNQ)$_2$. The 16.5 GHz dielectric function along the chain axis shows an enhancement below the spin-Peierls transition temperature near 18 K consistent with the charge coupling to the elastic strain involved in the transition. The velocity of two elastic modes perpendicular to the chain axis presents anomalies at the transition which can be explained with a Landau free energy model including a linear-quadratic coupling energy term between the appropriate elastic strain $e$ and the spin-Peierls magnetic gap $\Delta_q$. The analysis of the dielectric and elastic features aims toward an order parameter with an associated critical exponent $\beta \sim$ 0.36, which is similar to the three-dimensional behavior seen in other spin-Peierls materials. All these effects studied in a magnetic field up to 18 Teslas appear also compatible with a mean-field model of a quasi-one-dimensional spin-Peierls system.

M. Poirier M. de Lafontaine C. Bourbonnais J. -P. Pouget

We propose a theory of longitudinal resistivity in the normal phase of quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors near the quantum critical point where antiferromagnetism borders with superconductivity under pressure. The linearized semi-classical Boltzmann equation is solved numerically, fed in by the half-filling electronic umklapp scattering vertex as derived from one-loop renormalization group calculations for the quasi-one-dimensional electron gas model. The momentum and temperature dependence of umklapp scattering has an important impact on the behaviour of longitudinal resistivity in the the normal phase. Resistivity is found to be linear in temperature around the quantum critical point at which spin-density-wave order joins superconductivity along the antinesting axis, to gradually evolve towards the Fermi liquid behaviour in the limit of weak superconductivity. A comparison is made between theory and experiments performed on the (TMTSF)$_2$PF$_6$ member of the Bechgaard salt series under pressure.

M. Shahbazi C. Bourbonnais