Phase slips and switching in charge-density-wave transport

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Abstract
The dynamics of switching charge-density waves (CDW’s) are dramatically different from those of nonswitching CDW’s. These differences have not been explained by standard models of CDW transport. Phase slippage and strong pinning have recently been proposed as the mechanisms behind switching. In this paper, we present a systematic study of phase slippage, strong pinning, and switching. We begin by constructing a classical Hamiltonian to describe the dynamics of strongly pinned CDW’s. From this phenomenological Hamiltonian, overdamped equations of motion are derived to model phase slippage and amplitude collapse in the CDW order parameter. The effects of applied electric fields are numerically investigated and it is found that the equations qualitatively reproduce the experimental characteristics of switching CDW’s. Therefore phase slippage provides a self-consistent explanation for the unique transport properties of switching CDW’s.