Abstract
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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | L140304 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 110 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 1 2024 |
Funding
The authors acknowledge fruitful conversations with Matthew Krogstad, William Meier, and Casandra Gomez Alvarado. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Grant No. DE-SC0020305. This work used facilities supported via the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Enabling Quantum Leap: Convergent Accelerated Discovery Foundries for Quantum Materials Science, Engineering and Information (Q-AMASE-i): Quantum Foundry at UC Santa Barbara (DMR-1906325). Research conducted at the Center for High-Energy X-ray Science (CHEXS) is supported by the NSF (BIO, ENG, and MPS Directorates) under Award No. DMR-1829070. S.J.G.A. acknowledges the additional financial support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1650114 and support via the Eddleman Center for Quantum Innovation at UC Santa Barbara. Use was made of computational facilities purchased with funds from the National Science Foundation (CNS-1725797) and administered by the Center for Scientific Computing (CSC). The CSC is supported by the California NanoSystems Institute and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC; NSF DMR-2308708) at UC Santa Barbara. Work of J.A.M.P. (fits using Spinteract program) was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Scientific User Facilities Division. Work by B.R.O. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.