In the optical spectra of the non-superconducting salt α-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4 a strong feature
appears at frequencies of about 200 cm-1 and temperatures below 200 K which indicates the opening of a pseudogap.
This is in contrast to the superconducting α-(BEDT-TTF)2NH4Hg(SCN)4 whch exhlbits metallic-like optical
properties down to 2 K. Based on exact diagonalisation calculations of the optical conductivity on an extended
Hubbard model at quarter-filling we argue that the proximity of these salts to a charge ordering transition is
responsible for the observed pseudogap. Our proposed scenario suggests that the different ground states, including
superconductivity, are a consequence of the fluctuations associated with short range charge ordering which builds up
close to the quantum phase transition.