This study addresses the unusual phenomena observed in organic charge-transfer salts, using the combined expertise and methodologies of the two groups to synthesize thoroughly characterize, and examine any given sample. Organic charge transfer salts, based on TMTSF (tetramethyl-tetraselenafulvalene), originally attracted interest as the first organic superconductors. However, it has become increasingly evident that their real interest to science lies in their being a model system for studying the phase transitions and ground states of a strongly interacting electron in reduced dimensions. With the recent discovery of superconductivity at 8 K in the related BEDT-TTF (bisethylenedithio-tetrathiofulvalene) salts, the questions of further enhanced critical temperatures for superconductivity and of what controls the critical temperature have become amenable to experimental and theoretical analysis.
