D. Rideau 1, 2, Pierre Monceau 1, Roland Currat 2, Herwig Requardt 3, 4, F. Ya Nad 1, 5, J. Lorenzo 2, 4, Serguei Brazovskii 6, C. Detlefs 4, G. Gruebel 4
Europhysics Letters (EPL) 56 (2001) 289-295
Using high-resolution X-ray scattering techniques, we measure the variation, q(x), of the position in reciprocal space of the CDW satellite, in the sliding state, along the length of NbSe_3 whiskers. We show that structural defects and intentionally X-ray radiation-damaged regions increase locally the CDW pinning force, and induce CDW phase distortions which are consistent with those observed near contacts. Using the semi-microscopic model from Brazovskii describing the normal-condensed carrier conversion, with spatially varying parameters, we account for the experimental spatial dependence of the CDW phase gradient near both types of defects.
- 1. Centre de Recherches sur les Très Basses Températures (CRTBT),
CNRS : UPR5001 – Université Joseph Fourier – Grenoble I – Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG) - 2. Institut Laue-Langevin,
Institut Laue-Langevin - 3. MPI für Metallforschung,
MPI für Metallforschung - 4. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF),
ESRF - 5. Institute of Radio-Engineering and Electronics,
Institute of Radio-Engineering and Electronics - 6. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS),
CNRS : UMR8626 – Université Paris XI – Paris Sud