High-magnetic-field-induced insulating phase in an organic conductor

Abstract

We report electrical transport, skin depth, and magnetocaloric measurements in the $\ensuremath{\tau}$-phase series of organic conductors at very high magnetic fields. In the field range above 36 T these materials show a magnetic field induced phase transition from a metallic to an insulating state. The transition, which is a bulk thermodynamic phenomenon, is Pauli, rather than orbital, in origin.