Field Induced Density Wave in a Kagome Superconductor
On the kagome lattice, electrons benefit from the simultaneous presence of band topology, flat electronic bands, and Van Hove singularities, forming competing or cooperating orders. Understanding the interrelation between these distinct order parameters remains a significant challenge, leaving much of the associated physics unexplored. In the kagome superconductor KV_{3}Sb_{5}, which exhibits a charge density wave (CDW) state below T≃78 K, we uncover an unpredicted field-induced phase transition below 6 K. The observed transition is marked by a hysteretic anomaly in the resistivity, nonlinear electrical transport, and a change in the symmetry of the electronic response as probed via the angular dependence of the magnetoresistivity. These observations surprisingly suggest the emergence of an unanticipated broken symmetry state coexisting with the original CDW. To understand this experimental observation, we developed a theoretical minimal model for the normal state inside the high-temperature parent CDW phase, where an incommensurate CDW order emerges as an instability subleading to superconductivity. The incommensurate CDW emerges when superconducting fluctuations become fully suppressed by large magnetic fields. Our results suggest that, in kagome superconductors, quantum states can either coexist or are nearly degenerate in energy, indicating that these are rich platforms to expose new correlated phenomena.
Authors
- Byung‐Hoon Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8949-4833)
- Tyler A. Cochran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1745-8467)
- Zi‐Jia Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9473-7753)
- Xiàn Yáng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5019-374X)
- Julian Ingham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7733-9833)
- Sen Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5530-2493)
- Yu-Xiao Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-3100)
- Yangmu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0886-2919)
- Dragana Popović (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-3627)
- Yuxin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8016-8238)
- M. Zahid Hasan
- Yugui Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-3787)
- Ronny Thomale
- Luis Balicas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5209-0293)
- Md Shafayat Hossain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3744-5877)
- Maksim Litskevich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3049-6521)
- Bal K. Pokharel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0570-6796)
- Qi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3883-1729)
- Zhiwei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0182-2471)
- Jinjin Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7391-8873)
- Yongkai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7075-2975)
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- California NanoSystems Institute (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- University of California System (US)
- Institute for Advanced Study (US)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (CN)
- National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN)
- Zhuhai Institute of Advanced Technology (CN)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-09-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/5f9f-bsqw
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.25