Temperature-Driven Rotation Symmetry-Breaking States in an Atomic Kagome Metal KV3Sb5

Quanzhen Zhang, Yu Zhang*, Tingting Wang, Zhen Zhao, Lili Zhou, Baofei Hou, Hongyan Ji, Huixia Yang, Teng Zhang, Jia Tao Sun, Haitao Yang*, Hong Jun Gao, Yeliang Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Kagome lattice AV3Sb5 has attracted tremendous interest because it hosts correlated and topological physics. However, an in-depth understanding of the temperature-driven electronic states in AV3Sb5 is elusive. Here we use scanning tunneling microscopy to directly capture the rotational symmetry-breaking effect in KV3Sb5. Through both topography and spectroscopic imaging of defect-free KV3Sb5, we observe a charge density wave (CDW) phase transition from an a0 × a0 atomic lattice to a robust 2a0 × 2a0 superlattice upon cooling the sample to 60 K. An individual Sb-atom vacancy in KV3Sb5 further gives rise to the local Friedel oscillation (FO), visible as periodic charge modulations in spectroscopic maps. The rotational symmetry of the FO tends to break at the temperature lower than 40 K. Moreover, the FO intensity shows an obvious competition against the intensity of the CDW. Our results reveal a tantalizing electronic nematicity in KV3Sb5, highlighting the multiorbital correlation in the kagome lattice framework.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6560-6567
Number of pages8
JournalNano Letters
Volume24
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Jun 2024

Keywords

  • Friedel oscillation
  • Rotation symmetry breaking
  • charge density wave
  • kagome metal
  • scanning tunneling microscopy

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