Competing types of quantum oscillations in the 2D organic conductor (BEDT-TTF)8Hg4Cl12(C6H5Cl)2

Abstract

Interlayer magnetoconductance of the quasi-two dimensional organic metal (BEDT-TTF)8Hg4Cl12(C6H5Cl)2 has been investigated in pulsed magnetic fields extending up to 36 T and in the temperature range from 1.6 to 15 K. A complex oscillatory spectrum, built on linear combinations of three basic frequencies only is observed. These basic frequencies arise from the compensated closed hole and electron orbits and from the two orbits located in between. The field and temperature dependencies of the amplitude of the various oscillation series are studied within the framework of the coupled orbits model of Falicov and Stachowiak. This analysis reveals that these series result from the contribution of either conventional Shubnikov-de Haas effect (SdH) or quantum interference (QI), both of them being induced by magnetic breakthrough. Nevertheless, discrepancies between experimental and calculated parameters indicate that these phenomena alone cannot account for all of the data. Due to its low effective mass, one of the QI oscillation series - which corresponds to the whole first Brillouin zone area - is clearly observed up to 13 K.