Imaging charge-density-wave strains with electromodulated transmission

We have used electromodulated infrared transmission to image charge-density-wave strains in blue bronze. Two components of the strain are identified: a bulk strain, which appears throughout the crystal above an applied voltage VP, and a contact strain, which appears within 100 μm of the contacts with the onset of nonlinear current at VTVP. The two components have very different voltage, frequency, and temperature dependencies.