Kagome metals show rich competing quantum phases due to geometry frustration, flat bands, many-body effects, and non-trivial topology. Recently, a novel charge density wave (CDW) was discovered deep inside the antiferromagnetic phase of FeGe, attracting intense attention due to close relation with magnetism. Here, via a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), we find the 2*2 CDW in FeGe is very fragile and can be readily disrupted into the initial 1*1 phase; Small sqrt3*sqrt3 CDW puddles are found to coexist with the 2*2 CDW in as-grown samples, and can also be induced in the intermediate process of CDW disruption, which will eventually transform into the initial 1*1 phase. Moreover, an exotic intermediate CDW state and standalone CDW nuclei appear unexpectedly during the disruption process. Our first-principle calculations find equal softening of a flat optical phonon mode in a large momentum region around the CDW wave vector, corresponding to numerous competing CDWs with close energies. This might lead to strong instability of the CDW ground state, responsible for STM observations. Our findings provide more novel experimental aspects to understand the CDW in FeGe and suggest FeGe-like Kagome metals are ideal platforms for studying the physics of competing CDW instabilities.
Charge order in kagome metals is of extensive current interest. Recently, a charge density wave was discovered in the magnetic binary kagome metal FeGe. In analogy to its predecessor, the non-magnetic $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$ ($A$=K, Cs, Rb), the in-plane ordering occurs at the $M$ point. In contrast, however, the system manifestly shows effects of substantial correlations. Here we identify the topological bands crossing the Fermi energy (E$_F$) in FeGe and characterize the correlation-induced renormalization of these bands. We then derive a charge order from an effective model comprising topological ka…
In this work, we theoretically study the charge order and orbital magnetic properties of a new type of antiferromagnetic kagome metal FeGe. Based on first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we have studied the electronic structures, Fermi-surface quantum fluctuations, as well as phonon properties of the antiferromagnetic kagome metal FeGe. We find that charge density wave emerges in such a system due to a subtle cooperation between electron-electron ($e$-$e$) interactions and electron-phonon couplings, which gives rise to an unusual scenario of interaction-triggered phono…
Orbital-selective band evolution and out-of-plane correlation in the FeGe-family kagome antiferromagnet ScFe$_6$Ge$_6$
Seoul National University（首尔大学）；ShanghaiTech University（上海科技大学）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Sejong University（世宗大学）；Korea Institute of Science and Technology（韩国科学技术院）；National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology（量子科学技术研究机构）；Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院上海高等研究院）
Kagome materials often host exotic quantum phases, including spin liquids, Chern gap, charge order, and superconductivity. Existing scanning microscopy studies of the kagome charge order have been limited to non-kagome surface layers. Here we tunnel into the kagome lattice of FeGe to uncover features of the charge order. Our spectroscopic imaging identifes a 2x2 charge order in the magnetic kagome lattice, resembling that discovered in kagome superconductors. Spin-mapping across steps of unit-cell-height demonstrates that this charge order emerges from spin-polarized electrons with an antiferr…
By means of the density functional theory in combination with the dynamical mean-field theory, we tried to examine the electronic structure of hexagonal FeGe, in which the Fe atoms form a quasi-2D layered Kagome lattice. We predict that it is a representative Kagome metal characterized by orbital selective Dirac fermions and extremely flat bands. Furthermore, Fe's 3$d$ electrons are strongly correlated. They exhibit quite apparent signatures of electronic correlation induced by Hund's rule coupling, such as sizable differentiation in band renormalization, non-Fermi-liquid behavior, spin-freezi…
FeGe as a building block for the kagome 1:1, 1:6:6, and 1:3:5 families: hidden d-orbital decoupling of flat band sectors, effective models and interaction Hamiltonians
Phonons and magnetism of kagome FeGe probed by nuclear resonant scattering
Center for Correlated Matter and School of Physics, Zhejiang University（浙江大学相关物质研究中心和物理学院）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University（莱斯大学物理与天文学系）；Rice Laboratory for Emergent Magnetic Materials and Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University（莱斯大学涌现磁性材料实验室及Smalley-Curl研究所）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器研究所）；School of Emerging Technology, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学前沿技术学院）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）；New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学新基石科学实验室）
A hallmark of strongly correlated quantum materials is the rich phase diagram resulting from competing and intertwined phases with nearly degenerate ground state energies. A well-known example is the copper oxides, where a charge density wave (CDW) is ordered well above and strongly coupled to the magnetic order to form spin-charge separated stripes that compete with superconductivity. Recently, such rich phase diagrams have also been revealed in correlated topological materials. In two-dimensional kagome lattice metals consisting of corner-sharing triangles, the geometry of the lattice can pr…
High-resolution DC magnetization and AC-specific heat data of the cubic helimagnet FeGe have been measured as function of temperature and magnetic field. The magnetization data as well as the isothermal susceptibility data confirm the complexity of the magnetic phase diagram in the vicinity of the onset of long-rang magnetic order (Tc = 278.5 K) and the existence of a segmented A-phase region. Moreover, these data revealed independent and clear indications of phase boundaries and crossovers within the A-phase region. Together with the anomalies in the specific-heat data around Tc and at small …
We have used resistivity measurements to study the magnetic phase diagram of the itinerant antiferromagnet FeGe_2 in the temperature range from 0.3->300 K in magnetic fields up to 16 T. In contrast to theoretical predictions, the incommensurate spin density wave phase is found to be stable at least up to 16 T, with an estimated critical field μ_0H_c of ~ 30 T. We have also studied the low temperature magnetoresistance in the [100], [110], and [001] directions. The transverse magnetoresistance is well described by a power law for magnetic fields above 1 T with no saturation observed at high fie…
We report on detailed magnetic measurements on the cubic helimagnet FeGe in external magnetic fields and temperatures near the onset of long-range magnetic order at $T_C= 278.2(3)$ K. Precursor phenomena display a complex succession of temperature-driven crossovers and phase transitions in the vicinity of $T_C$. The A-phase region, present below $T_C$ and fields $H<0.5$ kOe, is split in several pockets. Relying on a modified phenomenological theory for chiral magnets, the main part of the A-phase could indicate the existence of a $+π$ Skyrmion lattice, the adjacent A$_2$ pocket, however, appea…
Quantum interference on the kagome lattice generates electronic bands with narrow bandwidth, called flat bands. Crystal structures incorporating this lattice can host strong electron correlations with non-standard ingredients, but only if these bands lie at the Fermi level. In the six compounds with the CoSn structure type (FeGe, FeSn, CoSn, NiIn, RhPb, and PtTl) the transition metals form a kagome lattice. The two iron variants are robust antiferromagnets so we focus on the latter four and investigate their thermodynamic and transport properties. We consider these results and calculated band …
In this paper we propose to describe the deformed state of a helimagnet in the magnetic field (A-phase) with a pair of variables: the order parameter which characterizes the magnetic density and the tensor of distortion. Such description corresponds to discontinuities in the magnetic sublattice of the helimagnet accompanied by appearance of dislocations. It is shown that the phase diagram we found for the helimagnet is analogous to the phase diagram of the superconductors of second kind in the magnetic field, where the A-phase is a counterpart of the superconducting mixed state with the Abriko…
FeGe_2, and lightly doped compounds based on it, have a Fermi surface driven instability which drive them into an incommensurate spin density wave state. Studies of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the resistivity have been used to determine the magnetic phase diagram of the pure material which displays an incommensurate phase at high temperatures and a commensurate structure below 263 K in zero field. Application of a magnetic field in the tetragonal basal plane decreases the range of temperatures over which the incommensurate phase is stable. We have used inelastic neutron sc…
Incoherent Spectral Weight Emerging from a Van Hove Singularity in a Kagome Metal
Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)（多诺斯蒂亚国际物理中心）；University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)（巴斯克大学）；Aalto University School of Science（阿尔托大学理学院）；Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学物理系）；CIC nanoGUNE（nanoGUNE创新中心）；Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids（马克斯·普朗克固体化学物理研究所）；Diamond Light Source Ltd（钻石光源有限公司）
Kagome lattices host flat bands due to their frustrated lattice geometry, which leads to destructive quantum interference of electron wave functions. Here, we report imaging of the kagome flat band localization in real-space using scanning tunneling microscopy. We identify both the Fe3Sn kagome lattice layer and the Sn2 honeycomb layer with atomic resolution in kagome antiferromagnet FeSn. On the Fe3Sn lattice, at the flat band energy determined by the angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, tunneling spectroscopy detects an unusual state localized uniquely at the Fe kagome lattice network.…
Electronic properties of the single crystal of GdV6Sn6, where non-magnetic V-kagome layers are separated by magnetic Gd-triangular lattice, are investigated. GdV6Sn6 exhibits unique magnetotransport properties at low-temperature such as non-linear Hall resistivity and increase of resistance R in magnetic field H as R ~ H^0.75 up to 56 T with Shubnikov-De Haas oscillations. Investigation of the non-magnetic analogue YV6Sn6 and the first principles calculations reveal these properties are relevant to the bands arising from the V-kagome layer. A magnetic transition at 5 K in GdV6Sn6 modifies the …
Exploration of rare-earth (RE)-based Kagome lattice magnets with spin-orbital entangled jeff=1/2 moments will provide new platform for investigating the exotic magnetic phases. Here, we report a new family of RE3BWO9 (RE=Pr,Nd,Gd-Ho) boratotungstates with magnetic RE3+ ions arranged on Kagome lattice, and perform its structure and magnetic characterizations. This serial compounds crystallize in hexagonal coordinated structure with space group P63 (No.173), where magnetic RE3+ ions have distorted Kagomé lattice connections within the ab plane and stacked in a AB-type fashion along c axis. The i…
Strongly correlated Kagome magnets are promising candidates for achieving controllable topological devices owing to the rich interplay between inherent Dirac fermions and correlation-driven magnetism. Here we report tunable local magnetism and its intriguing control of topological electronic response near room temperature in the Kagome magnet Fe3Sn2 using small angle neutron scattering, muon spin rotation, and magnetoresistivity measurement techniques. The average bulk spin direction and magnetic domain texture can be tuned effectively by small magnetic fields. Magnetoresistivity, in response,…
