Successive Dimensional Transition in (TMTTF)_{2}PF_{6} Revealed by Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction.

Abstract

A quasi-one-dimensional organic charge-transfer salt (TMTTF)_{2}PF_{6} undergoes a multistep phase transition as the temperature decreases. One of these transitions is called a "structureless transition," and these detailed structures were unknown for many years. With synchrotron x-ray diffraction, we observed a slight structural difference owing to the effect of charge-order transition between two TMTTF molecules in a dimer, which corresponds to the charge transfer δ_{CO}=0.20e. The two-dimensional Wigner crystallization was determined from an electron density analysis using core differential Fourier synthesis. Furthermore, we found that the ground state due to tetramerization, called the spin Peierls phase, is a three-dimensional transition with interchain correlation.