Infrared, specific heat, and elastic measurements on low- dimensional conductors are to be carried out. The goal of the IR experiments is to understand the role of solitons in charge- density-wave compounds with third- and quarter-filled bands. Strain and photo-modulation spectroscopy will be carried out on blue bronze, TaS3, and tetra-methyl-iodide-TCNQ. Elastic measurements will be implemented in the range 10 Hz to 10 MHz, in order to trace dependencies of elastic anomalies on frequency, temperature, and electric field, as well as effects of "switching", magnetic fields, and strain. The same apparatus can be used to study flux depinning in 2D superconductors. An ac calorimeter will be constructed to examine specific heat anomalies at phase transitions, and the use of CDW semiconductors as thermometers will be studied.
