Low temperature EPR study of the “impurity” resonances in (TCNQ)- and (TCNQ)-2 salts

The so-called “impurity” resonances in polycrystalline Li⁺ (TCNQ)^-, Cu⁺ (TCNQ)^- and Cu⁺ (TCNQ)^-₂ have been studied at liquid helium-temperatures. The Li⁺ (TCNQ)^- resonance is partially resolved at low microwave powers with g_⊥ = 2.0025 ± 0.0005 and g_∥ = 2.008 ± 0.001. Itis found that the (TCNQ) and (TCNQ)^-₂ complexes give characteristics spectra. The possible origin of these resonances is discussed.     

Spectroscopic investigation of pressure-induced phase transitions in TCNQ complex salts

In most of the TCNQ complex salts, conduction electrons are localized on specific TCNQ sites, so that these salts show nonmetalic behavior. The caesium salt, Cs₂(TCNQ)₃, is one of the 2:3 complex salts. In the crystal, TCNQ molecules form trimeric units, which consist of two TCNQ radical anion sandwiching a neutral TCNQ along the column. The rubidium salt, Rb₂(TCNQ)₃, also has a similar crystal structure to Cs₂(TCNQ)₃. We measured infrared absorption (IR) and Raman spectra for these salts under high pressure by using a diamond anvil cell. In the case of IR spectra, Cs₂(TCNQ)₃ showed a spectral change probably due to a pressure-induced phase transition. Similar feature was not clearly observed in the Rb₂(TCNQ)₃. On the other hand, the Raman spectra, Cs₂(TCNQ)₃ showed two phase transition at 2.5 and 4.1 GPa in the compression stage. The change from localization phase to delocalization phase occurred at latter transition with large hysteresis. Similar phase transition occurred at 3.2 GPa in the Rb₂(TCNQ)₃. The reason for the difference in transition pressure is that the ion radius of Rb⁺ is smaller than that of Cs⁺, because a small ion radius of the counter ion probably favors the charge localization-delocalization transition of the TCNQ column.     

Thermoelectric power of ETPP (TCNQ)2 and DEPE (TCNQ)4

Results of measurements of thermoelectric power of two complexes of TCNQ, namely, ethyltriphenylphosphonium (TCNQ)₂ and 1,2 Di (N-ethyl-4-pyridinium) ethylene (TCNQ)₄ in the temperature range 100–370 K are presented. Over a certain temperature range, thermoelectric power remains independent of temperature suggesting that the most likely mechanism of charge transfer is hopping.     

Magnetic and electric properties of NMeQn(TCNQ)2

It is demonstrated that the magnetic and electric properties of N-methyl-quinolinium (TCNQ)₂ are similar to that found in other well conducting complex TCNQ salts.     

Stabilization variation of organic conductor surfaces induced by π—π stacking interactions

The structures and stabilization of three crystal surfaces of TCNQ-based charge transfer complexes (CTCs) including PrQ(TCNQ)₂, MPM(TCNQ)₂, and MEM(TCNQ)₂, have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The three bulk-truncated surfaces are all ac-surface, which are terminated with TCNQ molecular arrays. On the ac-surface of PrQ(TCNQ)₂, the TCNQ molecules form a tetramer structure with a wavelike row behavior and a γ angle of about 18° between adjacent molecules. Moreover, the dimer structures are resolved on both ac-surfaces of MPM(TCNQ)₂ and MEM(TCNQ)₂. In addition, the tetramer structure is the most stable structure, while the dimer structures are unstable and easily subject to the STM tip disturbance, which results in changeable unit cells. The main reasons for the surface stabilization variation among the three ac-surfaces are provided by using the 'π-atom model'.     

Phase transition in MEM(TCNQ)2 single crystals by infrared reflection spectroscopy

Between 280 and 320 K the MEM⁺ ions in the salt MEM(TCNQ)₂ show an order-disorder phase transition. Moreover MEM(TCNQ)₂ undergoes the phase transition at 335 K. The influence of these two transitions on the i.r. reflectivity spectrum is studied.     

The thermoelectric power of MEM(TCNQ)2

MEM(TCNQ)₂ undergoes a first order semiconductor to metal transition at 340.8 K. We have measured the thermoelectric power (TEP) of MEM(TCNQ)₂ in the temperature range above 335 K. Above the transition the TEP is ?65 μV/°K, in the low temperature phase it is strongly temperature dependent and approaches zero near the transition. The indicated loss of spin entropy at the transition is discussed.     

Dielectric permeability of the quasi-one-dimensional charge transfer salts: Qn(TCNQ)2 and NMeAd(TCNQ)2

The dielectric constant and conductivity of the high conductivity organic charge transfer comples salts Qn(TCNQ)₂ and NMeAd(TCNQ)₂ are measured at 9.1 GHz in the temperature range 4–320 K. The large increase with temperature of the dielectric constant is at variance with theoretical models describing the systems as metals or semiconductors at high temperatures. A model of localised states requires unreasonably large dipole moments in the excited state to fit with observations.     

Infrared reflectivity of MTPA (TCNQ)2 single crystals

Polarized infrared reflectivity of single crystal MTPA (TCNQ)₂ was measured in the 40–4000 cm^?1 region and evaluated to obtain the dielectric function and conductivity. For E ⊥ b polarization, a very strong coupling between TCNQ intramolecular vibrations and electronic motion is observed. The bare electronic absorption is modelled by a sum of two classical oscillators.     

Temperature and frequency dependence of the nuclear relaxation rate in Qn(TCNQ)2

The magnitude, frequency dependence and temperature dependence of the proton relaxation rates in Qn(TCNQ)₂ are explained in terms of a theory which treats the short wavelength response as coherent and one-dimensional, while the long wavelength response is dominated by anisotropic (intrachain vs interchain) diffusion. The diffusive character of the response near q = 0 is consistent with recent attempts to understand the electronic properties of Qn(TCNQ)₂ in terms of weak localization of states in one-dimension. Analysis of the data leads to the conclusion that the effective screened Coulomb interaction is relatively weak.     

Model for conduction in TCNQ salts

We have extended our model for conductivity, σ, and its temperature, T, dependence to a group of molecular conductors including (Qn) (TCNQ)₂, (Adz) (TCNQ)₂ and (Adn) (TCNQ)₂. We have parametrically fit and then quantitatively calculated σ(T) for each of these materials as a product of an activated carrier concentration (600K, 450K, and 350K respectively) and a strongly T-dependent mobility determined by known electron-phonon coupling to the molecular vibrations of TCNQ.     

On the trimer approximation to the theory of Cs2(TCNQ)3 electronic structure

The electronic states of the crystalline Cs₂(TCNQ)₃ are studied under an assumption that the crystal consists of isolated trimers of TCNQ molecules occupied by two unpaired electrons. The Hamiltonian is a modified Hubbard Hamiltonian. The theory is related to the experimental data. A direction of necessary extension of the theory is discussed.     

Some magnetic properties of Mn(TCNQ)2

The EPR spectra of polycrystalline Mn(TCNQ)₂·3H₂O and Mn(TCNQ?d₄)₂ have been studied as a function of temperature from 1.5 K to 375 K. At very low temperatures the line width indicates an exchange interaction similar to that of other manganese salts. At 77 K and above the line is narrowed and shifted most likely through interaction with the electronic motion. The bulk susceptibility was measured at room temperature. The observed μ_eff=4.66 implies an antiferromagnetic coupling of the manganese ions.     

Surface magnetism in organic charge transfer salts

We have investigated the magnetic properties of the charge transfer salts Qn(TCNQ)₂, Cs₂(TCNQ)₃ and TTF—TCNQ in the form of single crystals and after strong pressing or grinding to a fine powder, which introduces lattice defects and increases the surface area. It is found that for the former two compounds pressing or grinding leads to a non-linear, saturating component in the magnetisation field curves, whereas the effect is absent for TTF—TCNQ. It is suggested that this behaviour could arise from strongly coupled localised spins at the surface, i.e. surface magnetism in these materials.     

Static dielectric constant of disordered organic quasi one-dimensional conductors: Localization by defects

We have measured the low temperature dielectric constant ? of two similar quasi one-dimensional organic conductors, N-Me-iso Qn(TCNQ)₂ and Qn(TCNQ)₂. For N-Me-iso Qn(TCNQ)₂ below 10 K, ? is independent of temperature and is frequency independent in the range 5 × 10⁵ Hz to 9 × 10⁹ Hz, within the 50% experimental uncertainty. Thus we believe the low temperature microwave dielectric constant to be a good approximation of the static value in this salt. For Qn(TCNQ)₂ at low temperatures, the relation ? ∝ (c+c₀)^-2 holds, where c is the defect concentration and c₀ is an effective defect concentration of the nominally pure material. This relation is predicted by the model of interrupted metallic strands with energy spacings larger than kT, and it indicates that electrons are strongly localized by defects along the conducting chains.     

Phase phonons and intramolecular electron-phonon coupling in the organic linear chain semiconductor TEA(TCNQ)2

The vibrational excitations responsible for the remarkable series of infrared absorption bands observed in the organic linear chain semiconductor TEA(TCNQ)₂ are identified to be the phase phonons which result from the coupling of the conduction electron molecular orbital to the totally symmetric vibrations of the TCNQ molecule.     

Spin resonance of tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene tetracyanoquinodimethane: a comparison with tetrathiafulvalene tetracyanoquinodimethane

Electron spin resonance spectra and linewidth studies of two different phases of tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene (TMTTF) tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNO) are presented. The linewidth of the solution grown 1:1 phase (TMTTF)(TCNQ), which is the structural analog to tetrathiafulvalene- tetracyanoquinodimethane (TTF) (TCNQ), is shown to have a similar temperature dependence to that of (TTF) (TCNQ) in contrast with earlier reports. The vapor grown phase, identified by X-ray studies as (TMTTF)_1.66 (TCNQ)₂, is shown to have different magnetic and electronic properties. These results are discussed and compared with earlier spin resonance reports on (TMTTF) (TCNQ).     

Angular variation of ESR linewidth in organic ionic radical salt: 1,3'-diethyl-2,2'-quinoselenacyanine-[TCNQ]2

Angular dependence of electron-spin-resonance (ESR) linewidth in 1,3'-diethyl-2,2'-quinoselenacyanine-[TCNQ]₂ single crystal reveals the two-dimensional magnetic nature of the system, where the nearly uniform distribution of magnetic-spins on the TCNQ layers is inferred.     

Spin susceptibility of DMM (TCNQ)2

DMM(TCNQ)₂ crystallizes into both monoclinic and triclinic crystal structures. The TCNQ stacks in the monoclinic structure tetramerized below 260K and the temperature dependence of the susceptibility can be fit to Bulaevskii's theory with an exchange energy of ≈260K. The susceptibility of the triclinic structure is Curie-Weiss from room temperature to 35K where it increases much less rapidly becoming independent of temperature below 6K. This is interpreted in terms of a linear one dimensional antiferromagnetic chain.