Discrete conducting states, wave-vector variation, and carrier mobilities in NbSe3 microsamples

Crystals of NbSe3 with typical dimensions of 30 mu m x 0.03 mu m(2) demonstrate jumps of conductivity induced by temperature changes. The jumps are observed in both charge-density wave (CDW) states, but more detailed studies have been performed for the low-temperature CDW. The jumps reveal single phase-slip events that switch the CDW between discrete states with different wave vectors. Based on this observation, we find the temperature dependencies of the CDW wave vectors and the mobilities of the quasiparticles for type-I and type-III chains. The mobility of carriers originating from the type-I chains (i.e., pocket holes) appears to be extremely high, approaching 10(5) cm(2)/V . s below 25 K.