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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Sliding-induced decoupling and charge transfer between the coexisting Q1 and Q2 charge density waves in NbSe3
A Ayari1, R Danneau, H Requardt
1Centre de Recherches sur les Très Basses Températures, CNRS, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
Using high-resolution x-ray scattering in the presence of an applied current, we report evidence for a dynamical decoupling between the two NbSe3 charge-density waves (CDWs), Q1 (T(C1)=145 K) and Q2 (T(C2)=59 K), coexisting below T(C2). Simultaneous and oppositely directed shifts of the relevant CDW superlattice spots develop above a threshold current which we identify as the depinning threshold I(C1) for the more strongly pinned upper CDW Q1 (I(C1) approximately 10I(C2)). In contrast with shifts induced by current conversion processes, the present effect is not current polarized and is not limited to the current-contact regions. We propose a model which explains this instability through a sliding-induced charge transfer between the two electronic reservoirs corresponding to the Q1 and Q2 CDWs.
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