Manipulation of fractionalized charge in the metastable topologically entangled state of a doped Wigner crystal

Abstract

Metastability of many-body quantum states is rare and still poorly understood. An exceptional example is the low-temperature metallic state of the layered dichalcogenide 1T-TaS2 in which electronic order is frozen after external excitation. Here we visualize the microscopic dynamics of injected charges in the metastable state using a multiple-tip scanning tunnelling microscope. We observe non-thermal formation of a metastable network of dislocations interconnected by domain walls, that leads to macroscopic robustness of the state to external thermal perturbations, such as small applied currents. With higher currents, we observe annihilation of dislocations following topological rules, accompanied with a change of macroscopic electrical resistance. Modelling carrier injection into a Wigner crystal reveals the origin of formation of fractionalized, topologically entangled networks, which defines the spatial fabric through which single particle excitations propagate. The possibility of manipulating topological entanglement of such networks suggests the way forward in the search for elusive metastable states in quantum many body systems.