Fig. 1: Domain reconfigurations in 1T-TaS2.

a The crystal lattice showing Ta atoms (small circles). Occupied electron sites (blue and orange circles) a in the ground state, and b near a domain wall. c A series of STM measurements at regular time intervals showing domain reconfiguration. Domains are colored to signify a displacement relative to the main commensurate lattice (light blue) (STM parameters: −0.8 V, 50 pA). d The fraction of electrons moved f(t) as a function of time measured within the same area at 5 K. The jumps correspond to large (observable) configurational changes. The inset shows a schematic of the configurational free energy E as a function of configurational coordinate (Hamming distance) f. The excited states within each well represent states which conserve f (see text). e f(t) deviation averaged over different areas of the sample, with periodic STM scans. Exponential and power law fits to the data are shown (solid and dashed lines, respectively). Error bars represent counting errors. f Same as (e), except with a 32-min gap in scanning the first point. The exponential fit is the red line. g The temperature dependence of R averaged over a large number of decays on a logarithmic scale with the inset showing a linear scale. Counting errors in f(t) are directly related to error bars in R.