Effect of the Deformation on the Conductivity of the Quasi-One-Dimensional Conductor K0.3MoO3 in the Peierls State

Abstract

The conductivity σ of the quasi-one-dimensional conductor K_0.3MoO₃ in low fields has been studied as a function of the temperature and uniaxial strain ε. It has been found that the Peierls transition temperature decreases under tensile strain and increases under compressive strain. A hysteresis is observed on the dependences σ(ε) for the Peierls state. The dependences indicate a strain-induced change in the wave vector of a charge density wave. This result seems to contradict the absence of a decrease in Young’s modulus in K_0.3MoO₃ at the depinning of the charge density wave. It has been shown that this contradiction is resolved by taking into account the transverse components in the deformation of the charge density wave and the lattice and the three-dimensional nature of their interaction.