Propagation of Charge-Density Wave Voltage Noise along a Blue-Bronze, Rb _0.3 MoO ₃ Crystal

Abstract

A voltage instability appearing at the threshold electric field for depinning the charge-density waves is investigated in a Rb0.3MoO3 single crystal divided into three segments by electrode contacts. The voltage pulses which, for higher fields, form quasi-periodic oscillations are found to propagate along the sample with a velocity in the order of 0.1 m/s at 77 K. This velocity increases with field and decreases rapidly with decreasing temperature. A discussion in terms of a CDW phase dislocation loop model proposed by Lee and Rice is presented.