J.N. Graham¹, C. Mielke III¹, D. Das¹, T. Morresi², V. Ardakani¹, A. Suter¹, T. Prokscha³, H. Deng⁴, R. Khasanov³, S. D. Wilson⁵, A. C. Salinas⁵, Y. Zhong⁶, K. Okazaki⁶, Z. Wang⁷, M. Z. Hasan⁸, M. Fisher⁹, T. Neupert⁹, J.-X. Yin⁴, S. Sanna¹⁰, H. Luetkens³, Z. Salman³, P. Bonfà^11*, Z. Guguchia³

1 Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

2 European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*-FBK), Trento, Italy

3 Laboratory for Materials Simulations (LMS), Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

4 Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China

5 Materials Department, Materials Research Laboratory, and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

6 Institute for Solid States Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan

7 Centre for Quantum Physics, Key Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Quantum Architecture and Measurement (MOE), School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

8 Laboratory for Topological Quantum Matter and Advanced Spectroscopy (B7), Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

9 Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland

10 Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Viale Berti-Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy

11 Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Informatiche, Università di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7/A, I-43124 Parma, Italy

* Corresponding authors emails: pietro.bonfa@unipr.it

DOI10.24435/materialscloud:4f-r5 [version v1]

Publication date: Feb 15, 2024

How to cite this record

J.N. Graham, C. Mielke III, D. Das, T. Morresi, V. Ardakani, A. Suter, T. Prokscha, H. Deng, R. Khasanov, S. D. Wilson, A. C. Salinas, Y. Zhong, K. Okazaki, Z. Wang, M. Z. Hasan, M. Fisher, T. Neupert, J.-X. Yin, S. Sanna, H. Luetkens, Z. Salman, P. Bonfà, Z. Guguchia, Depth-dependent time reversal symmetry breaking response in the charge-ordered kagome material RbV₃Sb₅, Materials Cloud Archive 2024.30 (2024), https://doi.org/10.24435/materialscloud:4f-r5

Description

The AV₃Sb₅ kagome superconductors series are of intense interest due to their diverse and intricate properties. The breaking of time-reversal symmetry (TRS) in the normal state of these superconductors stands as a significant feature, yet the extent to which this effect can be tuned remains uncertain. Here, we employ a unique low-energy muon spin rotation technique combined with local field numerical analysis to study the TRS breaking response as a function of depth from the surface in single crystals of RbV₃Sb₅ with charge order and Cs(V_0.86Ta_0.14)₃Sb₅ without charge order. In the bulk (specifically above 30 nm from the sur face) of RbV₃Sb₅, we have detected a notable increase in the internal field width experienced by the muon ensemble. This increase occurs within the charge ordered state. Intriguingly, the muon spin relaxation rate is significantly enhanced near the surface of RbV₃Sb₅ (specifically within a depth range of 30-40 nm from the surface), and this effect commences at temperatures significantly higher than the onset of charge order. Conversely, in Cs(V_0.86Ta_0.14)₃Sb₅, which lacks charge order, we do not observe a similar enhancement in the internal field width, neither in the bulk nor at the surface. These observations indicate a strong connection between charge order and TRS breaking on one hand, and on the other hand, suggest that TRS breaking can be manipulated to occur prior to long-range charge order. This research offers compelling evidence for depth-dependent magnetism in AV₃Sb₅ superconductors in the presence of charge order. Such findings are likely to illuminate the intricate microscopic mechanisms that underpin the TRS breaking phenomena in these materials.

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Keywords

DFT muon spin spectroscopy Kagome Metal