No Arabic abstract
Recently discovered alongside its sister compounds KV$_3$Sb$_5$ and RbV$_3$Sb$_5$, CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ crystallizes with an ideal kagome network of vanadium and antimonene layers separated by alkali metal ions. This work presents the electronic properties of CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, demonstrating bulk superconductivity in single crystals with a T$_{c} = 2.5$K. The normal state electronic structure is studied via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and density functional theory (DFT), which categorize CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ as a $mathbb{Z}_2$ topological metal. Multiple protected Dirac crossings are predicted in close proximity to the Fermi level ($E_F$), and signatures of normal state correlation effects are also suggested by a high temperature charge density wave-like instability. The implications for the formation of unconventional superconductivity in this material are discussed.
Using first-principles calculations, we identify the origin of the observed charge density wave (CDW) formation in a layered kagome metal CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. It is revealed that the structural distortion of kagome lattice forming the trimeric and hexameric V atoms is accompanied by the stabilization of quasimolecular states, which gives rise to the opening of CDW gaps for the V-derived multibands lying around the Fermi level. This Jahn-Teller-like instability having the local lattice distortion and its derived quasimolecular states is a driving force of the CDW order. Specifically, the saddle points of multiple Dirac bands near the Fermi level, located at the $M$ point, are hybridized to disappear along the $k_z$ direction, therefore not supporting the widely accepted Peierls-like electronic instability due to Fermi surface nesting. It is further demonstrated that applied hydrostatic pressure significantly reduces the interlayer spacing to destabilize the quasimolecular states, leading to a disappearance of the CDW phase at a pressure of ${sim}$2 GPa. The presently proposed underlying mechanism of the CDW order in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ can also be applicable to other isostructural kagome lattices such as KV$_3$Sb$_5$ and RbV$_3$Sb$_5$.
Phase transitions governed by spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) have long been sought in many quantum systems, including materials with anomalous Hall effect (AHE), cuprate high temperature superconductors, Iridates and so on. However, experimentally identifying such a phase transition is extremely challenging because the transition is hidden from many experimental probes. Here, using zero-field muon spin relaxation (ZF-$mu$SR) technique, we observe strong TRSB signals below 70 K in the newly discovered kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. The TRSB state emerges from the 2 x 2 charge density wave (CDW) phase present below ~ 95 K. By carrying out optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) experiments, we also find that inversion symmetry is maintained in the temperature range of interest. Combining all the experimental results and symmetry constraints, we conclude that the interlayer coupled chiral flux phase (CFP) is the most promising candidate for the TRSB state among all theoretical proposals of orbital current orders. Thus, this prototypical kagome metal CsV3Sb5 can be a platform to establish a TRSB current-ordered state and explore its relationship with CDW, giant AHE, and superconductivity.
The new two-dimensional (2D) kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ has attracted much recent attention due to the coexistence of superconductivity, charge order, topology and kagome physics. A key issue in this field is to unveil the unique reconstructed electronic structure, which successfully accommodates different orders and interactions to form a fertile ground for emergent phenomena. Here, we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) evidence for two distinct band reconstructions in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. The first one is characterized by the appearance of new electron energy band at low temperature. The new band is theoretically reproduced when the three dimensionality of the charge order is considered for a band-folding along the out-of-plane direction. The second reconstruction is identified as a surface induced orbital-selective shift of the electron energy band. Our results provide the first evidence for the three dimensionality of the charge order in single-particle spectral function, highlighting the importance of long-range out-of-plane electronic correlations in this layered kagome superconductor. They also point to the feasibility of orbital-selective control of the band structure via surface modification, which would open a new avenue for manipulating exotic phenomena in this system, including superconductivity.
The kagome superconductor AV$_3$Sb$_5$ (A=K, Rb, Cs) is a rare platform to explore the interplay between topology, geometrical frustration and symmetry-breaking orders. In addition to the charge density wave below $T_{CDW}sim94$~K and superconductivity below $T_{SC}sim3$~K, recent surface sensitive studies of CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ find evidence of 1$times$4 superlattices below $T^{*}sim60$~K. Interestingly, this unidirectional $4a_0$ phase may intertwine with charge density wave and superconductivity and possibly responsible for spectroscopic and transport anomalies below $T^{*}$. Here, combining high-resolution X-ray diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy, we demonstrate that the 1$times$4 superstructure emerges uniquely on the surface and hence exclude the $4a_0$ phase as the origin of $T^{*}$ anomaly in the bulk CsV$_3$Sb$_5$.
I search for the ground state structures of the kagome metals KV$_3$Sb$_5$, RbV$_3$Sb$_5$, and CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ using first principles calculations. Group-theoretical analysis shows that there are seventeen different distortions that are possible due to the phonon instabilities at the $M$ $(frac{1}{2},0,0)$ and $L$ $(frac{1}{2},0,frac{1}{2})$ points in the Brilouin zone of the parent $P6/mmm$ phase of these materials. I generated these structures for the three compounds and performed full structural relaxations that minimize the atomic forces and lattice stresses. I find that the $Fmmm$ phase with the order parameter $M_1^+$ $(a,0,0)$ $+$ $L_2^-$ $(0,b,b)$ has the lowest energy among these possibilities in all three compounds. However, the $Fmmm$ exhibits a dynamical instability at its $Z$ $(0,0,1)$ point, which corresponds to the $A$ $(0,0,frac{1}{2})$ point in the parent $P6/mmm$ phase. Condensation of this instability leads to a base-centered orthorhombic structure with the space group $Cmcm$ and $4Q$ order parameter $M_1^+$ $(a,0,0)$ $+$ $L_2^-$ $(0,b,b)$ $+$ $A_6^+$ $(frac{1}{2}c,frac{-sqrt{3}}{2}c)$.