Dynamical signature of the Mott-Hubbard transition in Ni(S,SE)(2)

The transition metal chalcogenide Ni(S,Se)(2) is one of the few highly correlated, Mott-Hubbard systems without a strong first-order structural distortion that normally cuts off the critical behavior at the metal-insulator transition. The zero-temperature (T) transition was tuned with pressure, and significant deviations were found near the quantum critical point from the usual T-1/2 behavior of the conductivity characteristic of electron-electron interactions in the presence of disorder. The transport data for pressure and temperature below 1 kelvin could be collapsed onto a universal scaling curve.