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Updated: May 16, 2026

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
Published on: May 18, 2021
Atomistic picture of charge density wave formation at surfaces
Simone Wall1, Boris Krenzer, Stefan Wippermann
1Department of Physics and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, D-47057 Duisburg, Germany. simone.wall@uni-due.de
Abstract:
We used ultrafast electron diffraction and density-functional theory calculations to gain insight into the charge density wave (CDW) formation on In/Si(111). Weak excitation by a femtosecond-laser pulse results in the melting of the CDW. The immediate freezing is hindered by a barrier for the motion of atoms during the phase transition: The melted CDW constitutes a long-lived, supercooled phase and is strong evidence for a first-order transition. The freezing into the CDW is triggered by preexisting adsorbates. Starting at these condensation nuclei, the CDW expands one dimensionally on the In/Si(111) surface, with a constant velocity of more than 80 m/s.
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