Distinction between pristine and disorder-perturbed charge density waves in ZrTe3

Abstract

The role of disorder in the formation of charge density waves (CDWs) remains elusive in typical CDW materials. Here, the authors report coexisting diffraction signals and anomalous slow dynamics of charge domains near the CDW transition temperature in ZrTe$${}_{3}$$ 3 , suggesting as fingerprints of pristine and disorder-perturbed CDWs.