Possible metallization of the Mott insulators TiOCl and TiOBr: Effects of doping and external pressure

We report the results of doping- and pressure-dependent experimental investigations on the low-dimensional Mott-Hubbard insulators TiOCl and TiOBr. As observed by photoelectron spectroscopy, doping with Na and K shifts the valence band to higher binding energies associated with a jump of the chemical potential. With increasing doping, a broad hump develops close to the Fermi energy and the energy gap “softens”. The application of pressure induces the appearance of spectral weight close to the Fermi energy, as probed by infrared transmittance and reflectance measurements. The pressure-induced changes in the electronic properties coincide with a structural phase transition according to powder X-ray diffraction studies under pressure. The experimental findings are compared to theoretical predictions.