Quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductors

A review on selected normal-state and superconducting properties of the quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductors is given. Thereby, the focus is laid on the charge-transfer salts based on bisethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene, or ET for short, the building block of most of the to-date known organic superconductors. Some basic features of the crystallographic structure, the highly anisotropic electronic band structure for some materials, as well as unusual electronic-transport properties are highlighted. The principal phase diagram of the kappa-phase salts and the fundamental difficulties of a purely electronic explanation of the observed features are discussed. A brief overview on the anisotropic superconducting properties as well as the still very controversial notion on the nature of the superconducting state is presented.