Moving charge-density waves in K(0.30)MoO3.

A number of anisotropic materials exhibit no-linear charge transport resulting from a charge-density wave (CDW) which moves in an applied electric field. In these materials the CDW is pinned to the lattice by impurities at low electric fields, but may be depinned by dc fields in excess of a threshold. A moving CDW is a new form of charge transport in a solid and it is associated with a number of interesting non-linear electrical phenomena. These include enhance dc and ac conductivity, a periodic response to a dc bias, noise, and meta-stable conductivity states. The "blue bronze", K(0.30)MoO3 has proved to be an interesting material in which to study CDW transport because of the large sample size and the large meta-stable effects associated with this material.