Frustrated Ising charge correlations in the kagome metal ScV6Sn6

Here we resolve the real-space nature of the high-temperature, short-range charge correlations in the kagome metal ScV6Sn6. Diffuse scattering appears along a frustrated wave vector qH=(13,13,12) at temperatures far exceeding the charge order transition TCO=92 K, preempting long-range charge order with wave vectors along qK̄=(13,13,13). Using a combination of real space and reciprocal space analysis, we resolve the nature of the interactions between the primary out-of-plane Sc-Sn chain instability and the secondary strain-mediated distortion of the in-plane V kagome network. A minimal model of the diffuse scattering data reveals a high-temperature, short-ranged "zig-zag"phase of in-plane correlations that maps to a frustrated triangular lattice Ising model with antiferromagnetic interactions and provides a real-space understanding of the origin of frustrated charge order in this material.