Tunable Charge-Density Wave Transport in a Current-Effect Transistor

The collective charge-density wave (CDW) conduction is modulated by a transverse single-particle current in a transistorlike device. Nonequilibrium conditions in this geometry lead to an exponential reduction of the depinning threshold, allowing the CDWs to slide at much lower bias fields. The results are in excellent agreement with a recently proposed dynamical model in which “wrinkles” in the CDW wave fronts are “ironed” by the transverse current. The experiment might have important implications for other driven periodic media, such as moving vortex lattices or “striped phases” in high- $T_c$ superconductors.