Pressure-induced insulating state in an organic superconductor

The electronic-transport properties of the quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor β″-(BEDT-TTF)₂SF₅CH₂CF₂SO₃, where BEDT-TTF stands for bisethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene, have been investigated in magnetic fields up to 15 T and under hydrostatic pressure up to about 14 kbars. Shubnikov–de Haas data reveal a nonmonotonic pressure dependence of the holelike Fermi surface, a roughly linear increase of the electron g factor, and an approximately linear decrease of the cyclotron effective mass. By assuming that the latter reflects the pressure-induced reduction of the superconducting coupling parameter λ the rapid reduction of the superconducting transition temperature T_c(p) can be reasonably well described by the modified McMillan equation. Above about 12 kbars the material becomes insulating with an activated resistive behavior. This first-order metal-insulator transition has a hysteresis of about 3 kbars. This unexpected behavior is assumed to be of structural origin, although clear changes of electronic band-structure properties precede the phase transition.