Electrical resistivity of the Ti $\mathsf{_4}$ O $\mathsf{_7}$ Magneli phase under high pressure

We have measured resistivity as a function of temperature and pressure of Ti 4 O 7 twinned crystals using different contact configurations. Pressures over 4 kbar depress the localization of bipolarons and allow the study of the electrical conduction of the bipolaronic phase down to low temperatures. For pressures P > 40 kbar the bipolaron formation transition is suppressed and a nearly pressure independent behavior is obtained for the resistivity. We observed an anisotropic conduction. When current is injected parallel to the principal axis, a metallic conduction with interacting carrier effects is predominant. A superconducting state was not obtained down to 1.2 K, although evidences of the proximity of a quantum critical point were noticed. While when current is injected non-parallel to the crystal’s principal axis, we obtained a logarithmic divergence of the resistivity at low temperatures. For this case, our results for the high pressure regime can be interpreted in the framework of interacting carriers (polarons or bipolarons) scattered by Two Level Systems. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2003