On the tremendous effect of an electric field on the crystal lattice of quasi-one-dimensional conductors with a charge density wave

The deformation of the lattice of quasi-one-dimensional conductors with a charge density wave deformed by an electric field has been considered. In the case of the “strong” interaction between the charge density wave and lattice, the effect of the field can be compared to the usual piezoelectric effect with a tremendous piezoelectric modulus that is larger than the value in ionic crystals by a factor of L _c/λ (λ is the period of the charge density wave and L _c is the coherence length reaching several millimeters upon the sliding of the charge density wave). The interaction between the charge density wave and lattice is likely attributed to the possibility of the interband redistribution of charges (rearrangement of covalent bonds) in the process of the deformation of certain compounds with the charge density wave. The observed and expected effects provide a way of the creation of fundamentally new actuators including those of nanometer sizes.