Ultrafast Decoherence of Charge Density Waves in K$_{0.3}$MoO$_{3}$

Abstract

Recent works have suggested that transient suppression of a charge density wave (CDW) by an ultra-short excitation can lead to an inversion of the CDW phase. We experimentally investigate the dynamics of the CDW in K$_{0.3}$MoO$_{3}$ by time resolved x-ray diffraction after excitation with optical pulses. Our results indicate a transient inversion of the CDW phase close to the surface that evolves into a highly disordered state in less than one picosecond. Numerical simulations solving the Ginzburg-Landau equation including disorder from strong pinning defects reproduce our main observations. Our findings highlight the critical role of disorder in schemes for coherent control in condensed matter systems.