Link between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity probed by nuclear spin relaxation in organic conductors

The interdependence of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in the Bechgaard salts series of organic conductors is examined in the light of the anomalous temperature dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate. We apply the renormalization-group approach to the electron gas model to show that the crossover from antiferromagnetism to superconductivity along with the anomalous nuclear relaxation rate of the Bechgaard salts can be well described within a unified microscopic framework. For sizable nesting deviations of the Fermi surface, scaling theory reveals how pairing correlations enhance short-range antiferromagnetic correlations via magnetic Umklapp scattering over a large part of the metallic phase that precedes superconductivity. These enhanced magnetic correlations are responsible for the Curie-Weiss behavior observed in the NMR relaxation rate.