Roton pair density wave and unconventional strong-coupling superconductivity in a topological kagome metal
Abstract
The transition-metal kagome lattice materials host frustrated, correlated, and topological quantum states of matter. Recently, a new family of vanadium-based kagome metals AV3Sb5 (A=K, Rb, and Cs) with topological band structures has been discovered. These layered compounds are nonmagnetic and undergo charge density wave transitions before developing superconductivity at low temperatures. Here we report the observation of unconventional superconductivity and pair density wave (PDW) in CsV3Sb5 using scanning tunneling microscope/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and Josephson STS. We find that CsV3Sb5 exhibits a V-shaped pairing gap {\Delta}~0.5 meV and is a strong-coupling superconductor (2{\Delta}/kBTc~5) that coexists with 4a0 unidirectional and 2a0X2a0 charge order. Remarkably, we discover a 3Q PDW accompanied by bidirectional 4a0/3 spatial modulations of the superconducting gap, coherence peak and gap-depth in the tunneling conductance. We term this novel quantum state a roton-PDW associated with an underlying vortex-antivortex lattice that can account for the observed conductance modulations. Probing the electronic states in the vortex halo in an applied magnetic field, in strong-field that suppresses superconductivity, and in zero-field above Tc reveals that the PDW is a primary state responsible for an emergent pseudogap and intertwined electronic order. Our findings show striking analogies and distinctions to the phenomenology of high-Tc cuprate superconductors, and provide groundwork for understanding the microscopic origin of correlated electronic states and superconductivity in vanadium-based kagome metals.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2103.09188,
title = {Roton pair density wave and unconventional strong-coupling superconductivity in a topological kagome metal},
author = {Hui Chen and Haitao Yang and Bin Hu and Zhen Zhao and Jie Yuan and Yuqing Xing and Guojian Qian and Zihao Huang and Geng Li and Yuhan Ye and Sheng Ma and Shunli Ni and Hua Zhang and Qiangwei Yin and Chunsheng Gong and Zhijun Tu and Hechang Lei and Hengxin Tan and Sen Zhou and Chengmin Shen and Xiaoli Dong and Binghai Yan and Ziqiang Wang and Hong-Jun Gao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.09188},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
Nature (2021)