Phase slip scaling relationship for the 59 K and 143 K charge-density-waves in NbSe3

Selective area irradiation was used to create irradiated/unmodifïed/irradiated CDW heterostructures with well-defined interfaces on a single NbSe3 crystal. The temperature dependence of the extra voltage required for carrier conversion (phase slip voltage, Vps0) is extracted from length dependent studies. We find that the temperature dependence of Vps0 for the 143 K and 59 K CDW transitions are identical if properly scaled by the transition temperature. The Vps0 temperature dependence is not thermally activated, but contains an upper and lower temperature branch. The crossover temperature for the two branches is 0.75TP. For the 59 K CDW we observe a zero-bias resistance anomaly near a single irradiated/unmodified interface. This anomaly abruptly changes with temperature near 44 K suggesting a qualitative change in the phase slip mechanism near 0.75TP