Characteristic times for the field-activated relaxation of the charge-density wave in K0.3MoO3

The relaxation of the charge-density wave from the unpolarized state to the sliding state evolves as exp[-(t/E)] where E is both field and temperature activated and varies from 0.35 to 0.65. The relaxation reflects the buildup of the irreversible polarization P*, and occurs on time scales E which are much longer than time scales 0 for the linear (reversible) dielectric response. The distinction between the two becomes apparent when the applied pulse width approaches 0.