A superposition of the Pauli and orbital coupling of a high magnetic field to charge carriers in a charge-density-wave (CDW) system is proposed to give rise to transitions between subphases with quantized values of the CDW wavevector. By contrast to the purely orbital field-induced densitywave effects which require a strongly imperfect nesting of the Fermi surface, the new transitions can occur even if the Fermi surface is well nested at zero field. We suggest that such transitions are observed in the organic metal α-(BEDT-TTF) 2 KHg(SCN) 4 under a strongly tilted magnetic field.

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We present comparative studies of the orientation effect of a strong magnetic field on the interlayer resistance of α-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4 samples characterized by different crystal quality. We find striking differences in their behavior which is attributed to the breakdown of the coherent charge transport across the layers in the lower quality sample. In the latter case, the nonoscillating magnetoresistance background is essentially a function of only the out-of-plane field component, in contradiction to the existing theory.

The superconducting transition in the layered organic compound ␣-͑BEDT-TTF͒ 2 KHg͑SCN͒ 4 has been studied in the two hydrostatic pressure regimes where a charge-density wave is either present or completely suppressed. Within the charge-density-wave state the experimental results reveal a network of weakly coupled superconducting regions. This is especially seen in a strong enhancement of the measured critical field and the corresponding positive curvature of its temperature dependence. Further, it is shown that on lowering the pressure into the density-wave state traces of a superconducting phase already start to appear at a much higher temperature.

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