Evidence for moving breathers in a layered crystal insulator at 300K

We report the ejection of atoms at a crystal surface caused by energetic breathers which have travelled more than 10^7 unit cells in atomic chain directions. The breathers were created by bombardment of a crystal face with heavy ions. This effect was observed at 300K in the layered crystal muscovite, which has linear chains of atoms for which the surrounding lattice has C_2 symmetry. The experimental techniques described could be used to study breathers in other materials and configurations.