Metastability and Glassy Behavior of a Driven Flux-Line Lattice

Strong metastability and history dependence are observed in dc and pulsed transport studies of flux-line lattices in $2H$-NbSe₂, leading to the identification of two distinct states of the lattice with different spatial ordering. The metastability is most pronounced upon crossing a transition line marked by a large jump in the critical current (the peak effect). Current-induced annealing of the metastable state towards the stable state is observed with a strongly current dependent annealing time, which diverges as a threshold current is approached from above.