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Interplay of Nanoscale Strain and Smectic Susceptibility in Kagome Superconductors

Journal Article · · Physical Review. X
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [3];  [3]
  1. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
  4. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States); Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  5. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
Exotic quantum solids can host electronic states that spontaneously break rotational symmetry of the electronic structure, such as electronic nematic phases and unidirectional charge density waves (CDWs). When electrons couple to the lattice, uniaxial strain can be used to anchor and control this electronic directionality. Here, we reveal an unusual impact of strain on unidirectional “smectic” CDW orders in kagome superconductors AV3⁢Sb5 using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy. We discover local decoupling between the smectic electronic director axis and the direction of anisotropic strain. While the two can generally be aligned along the same direction in regions of a small CDW gap, the tendency for alignment decreases in regions where the CDW gap is the largest. This feature, in turn, suggests nanoscale variations in smectic susceptibility, which we attribute to a combination of local strain and electron correlation strength. Overall, we observe an unusually high decoupling rate between the smectic electronic director of the three-state Potts order and anisotropic strain, revealing weak smectoelastic coupling in the CDW phase of kagome superconductors. This finding is phenomenologically different from the extensively studied nematoelastic coupling in the Ising nematic phase of Ising nematic phase of Fe-based superconductor bulk single crystals, providing a contrasting picture of how strain can control electronic unidirectionality in different families of quantum materials.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; FG02-99ER45747
OSTI ID:
3002346
Journal Information:
Physical Review. X, Journal Name: Physical Review. X Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 15; ISSN 2160-3308
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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