Collective transport of charges in charge density wave systems based on traveling soliton lattices

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the collective charge transport in charge density wave systems can be explained by a traveling soliton lattice, supported by experimental diffraction data, revealing a nonlinear self-localized excitation mechanism.

Contribution

It introduces a soliton lattice theory to explain charge transport in CDW systems, unifying transport and diffraction observations.

Findings

Diffraction patterns match the soliton lattice model.

Charges are transported via self-localized excitations.

Long-range charge correlations are explained by the model.

Abstract

Solitons are peculiar excitations that appear in a wide range of nonlinear systems such as in fluids or optics. We show here that the collective transport of charges observed in charge density wave (CDW) systems can be explained by using a similar theory based on a traveling soliton lattice. Coherent x-ray diffraction experiment performed in the sliding state of a CDW material reveals peculiar diffraction patterns in good agreement with this assumption. Therefore, the collective transport of charges in CDW systems may be due to a nonlinear interaction leading to a self-localized excitation, carrying charges without deformation through the sample, on top of the CDW ground state. This single theory explains why charges remain spatially correlated over very long distances and reconciles the main features of sliding CDW systems, either observed by transport measurements or diffraction.