Charge avalanches and depinning in the Coulomb glass : The role of long-range interactions

• We explore the stability of far-from-equilibrium metastable states of a three-dimensional Coulomb glass at zero temperature by studying charge avalanches triggered by a slowly varying external electric field. Surprisingly, we identify a sharply defined dynamical ("depinning") phase transition from stationary to nonstationary charge displacement at a critical value of the external electric field. Using particle-conserving dynamics, scale-free system-spanning avalanches are observed only at the critical field. We show that the qualitative features of this depinning transition are completely different for an equivalent short-range model, highlighting the key importance of long-range interactions for nonequilibrium dynamics of Coulomb glasses.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Annan fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Other Physics Topics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Self-Organized Criticality

Electron Glass

Hysteresis

Disorder

Systems

Conductivity

Relaxation

Dynamics

Noise

Model

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