Transient non-linear phenomena and metastable states of charge-density waves in niobium triselenide

Details are given of the transient response of NbSe₃ at 42 K to currents I(t) of various repetitive pulsed waveforms. Nonlinear conduction, due supposedly to motion of one of the two charge-density waves (CDWs) present, was measured as U(t) = IR₀ ? V, where V(t) is the voltage developed across the specimen and R₀ is its resistance in the Ohmic regime.With unidirectional pulses two threshold currents for nonlinearity were observed. On passing the lower threshold, a gradual rise (time-constant 50 μs) of U towards the d.c. value was seen; this behaviour was shown not to originate in the inertia of the CDW, and probably arose thermally. Only after the second threshold was passed did U appear to rise immediately current was applied. The existence of two thresholds accounts for a discrepancy between pulsed and d.c. measurements of conductivity noted by Brill et al. (1981), and also for a phenomenon previously attributed to “locking” between the two CDWs [6].When the pulses were alternately negative- and positive-going, |U| rose beyond its eventual (d.c.) value, towards which it subsequently decayed. A study of this “overshoot” phenomenon has shown the speciment to be left, after a current pulse, in a long-lived metastable state in which pinning stabilises some distortion of the CDW, presumably similar to that of which recent electron micrographs [11] appear to be evidence.A simple model, associating the overshoot with transitions between metastable states, adequately describes the conditions for its occurrence. However, the origin of the conduction associated with the moving CDW remains uncertain, both the Frohlich mechanism and a single-electron alternative finding some experimental support.