Anomalous Photoconduction of Low-Temperature Charge-Density Wave in NbS3-II as a Physical Basis of a Method for Detection of Weak Signals

Abstract

The effect of IR radiation on photoconduction of two charge-density waves (CDWs) in the monoclinic phase of quasi-1D conductor NbS₃ (NbS₃-II) is studied. For the CDW-1 that emerges at a temperature of Т_Р1 = 360 К, threshold field E_t increases with irradiation power W. For CDW-2 that emerges at a temperature of T_P2 = 150 K, field E_t decreases due to IR irradiation, which proves anomalous character of CDW-2 and indicates direct photoactivation of its sliding. Extremely high sensitivity of the measured signal to IR radiation is obtained using stimulation of the CDW coherence by the microwave field.