Disentanglement of the Electronic and Lattice Parts of the Order Parameter in a 1D Charge Density Wave System Probed by Femtosecond Spectroscopy

We report on the high resolution studies of the temperature (T) dependence of the q = 0 phonon spectrum in the quasi-one-dimensional charge density wave (CDW) compound K(0.3)MoO(3) utilizing time-resolved optical spectroscopy. Numerous modes that appear below T(c) show pronounced T dependences of their amplitudes, frequencies, and dampings. Utilizing the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory we show that these modes result from linear coupling of the electronic part of the order parameter to the 2k(F) phonons, while the (electronic) CDW amplitude mode is overdamped.