Pulse-duration memory effect inNbSe3and comparison with numerical simulations of phase organization

Abstract

The oscillatory response of the 59 K charge density wave (CDW) in ${\mathrm{NbSe}}_{3}$ to a sequence of current pulses was investigated as a function of pulse height and pulse width. Of the 16 samples investigated, seven clearly exhibited the learned behavior commonly referred to as the pulse-duration memory effect (PDME). These seven samples, after training, learned the length of the pulse, and always finished the pulse at a minimum in the voltage oscillation (maximum CDW velocity). Contrary to previous reports, we observe the PDME for pulse heights much greater than threshold. We find that as the number of metastable states accessible to the CDW during the low portion of the drive pulse is decreased, the PDME degrades. We summarize the qualitative differences between the theory of phase organization and the observed experimental data. To facilitate this comparison we have performed numerical simulations of the Fukayama-Lee-Rice (FLR) model in both the weak and strong pinning limits in an attempt to reproduce the learned response. We find no evidence for phase organization (no learning) in the weak pinning limit; also the wave forms generated in the strong pinning limit differ qualitatively from the experimental data. This comparative study suggests that the theoretical description of the PDME requires further investigation, and the importance of amplitude collapse and boundary conditions demand future examination.