In this thesis, I study a special state of matter called the hidden charge density wave (CDW) state in 1T-$\mathrm{TaS}_2$ . This hidden state is metastable, meaning it does not occur naturally when cooling down or heating up, but can be created using short laser pulses or voltage pulses from a scanning tunneling microscope. I used the STM to take detailed images of the material’s surface after creating the hidden state at different temperatures. At low temperatures, I looked at how the hidden state forms and what its structure looks like. At higher temperatures, I observed how this state slowly disappears over time. I also analyzed how the size and number of domains in the hidden state depend on the strength of the voltage pulse. The results help us better understand how the hidden state forms and relaxes. This could be useful in future technologies that need fast and stable ways to store or switch information.
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