Metastability of many-body quantum states is rare and still poorly understood. An exceptional example is the low-temperature metallic state of the layered dichalcogenide 1T-TaS₂ in which electronic order is frozen after external excitation. Here we visualize the microscopic dynamics of injected charges in the metastable state using a multiple-tip scanning tunnelling microscope. We observe non-thermal formation of a metastable network of dislocations interconnected by domain walls, that leads to macroscopic robustness of the state to external thermal perturbations, such as small applied currents. With higher currents, we observe annihilation of dislocations following topological rules, accompanied with a change of macroscopic electrical resistance. Modelling carrier injection into a Wigner crystal reveals the origin of formation of fractionalized, topologically entangled networks, which defines the spatial fabric through which single particle excitations propagate. The possibility of manipulating topological entanglement of such networks suggests the way forward in the search for elusive metastable states in quantum many body systems.

多体量子态的亚稳态很少见，而且人们对它仍然知之甚少。一个特殊的例子是层状二硫属化物 1T-TaS ₂的低温金属态，其中电子顺序在外部激发后被冻结。在这里，我们使用多尖端扫描隧道显微镜可视化亚稳态下注入电荷的微观动力学。我们观察到通过畴壁互连的亚稳态位错网络的非热形成，这导致状态对外部热扰动（例如小施加电流）的宏观鲁棒性。在更高的电流下，我们观察到位错遵循拓扑规则的湮灭，并伴随着宏观电阻的变化。对维格纳晶体中的载流子注入进行建模揭示了分段拓扑纠缠网络形成的起源，该网络定义了单粒子激发传播的空间结构。操纵此类网络的拓扑纠缠的可能性为在量子多体系统中寻找难以捉摸的亚稳态提供了前进的方向。