Non-equilibrium charge density wave ground state of quasi-two-dimensional rare-earth tritelluride TbTe₃

We have studied the time dependence of the relaxation of the non-equilibrium charge density wave (CDW) toward an equilibrium ground state in TbTe₃ when the sample is cooled through the Peierls transition temperature under an electric field down to a given temperature, T_exp. We show that when cooled at zero electric field or a value less than the threshold one, E_t, for depinning the CDW at T_exp, the CDW equilibrium ground state has a single phase in the sample volume. When cooled with an electric field higher than E_t, the CDW ground state is in a frozen glass state, which can be destabilized only by reducing the electric field below E_t. We tentatively interpret these results by the interaction of the CDW with a well ordered Te–Te discommensuration network.