Fig. 4: Schematics of charge modulations near disorder in different temperature regimes.
From: Distinction between pristine and disorder-perturbed charge density waves in ZrTe3
a \({T}_{{\rm{LO}}}\, <\, T\, <\, {T}_{{\rm{CDW}}}\) (62 K in Fig. 3), b \(T\, \lesssim\, {T}_{{\rm{LO}}}\) (47 and 56 K in Fig. 3), and c \(T\ll {T}_{{\rm{LO}}}\) (23 K in Fig. 3). Black dots represent disorder. The red modulations correspond to the broad peak in Fig. 2, whereas the grey modulations correspond to the sharp peak. Each panel contains a superposition of both modulations, with the grey ones (CDWs) progressively increasing toward low \(T\), first in correlation length (from a to b), then in intensity (from b to c). In b and c, we add an exaggerated 10% difference between the periodicity of the two patterns, making the maximal intensities of the two modulations shift from each other (arrows in dashed circle in c), in order to reflect our experimental observations in Fig. 2.
