Communications Physics (Jun 2024)

Discovery of charge order above room-temperature in the prototypical kagome superconductor La(Ru1−x Fe x )3Si2

  • I. Plokhikh,
  • C. Mielke,
  • H. Nakamura,
  • V. Petricek,
  • Y. Qin,
  • V. Sazgari,
  • J. Küspert,
  • I. Biało,
  • S. Shin,
  • O. Ivashko,
  • J. N. Graham,
  • M. v. Zimmermann,
  • M. Medarde,
  • A. Amato,
  • R. Khasanov,
  • H. Luetkens,
  • M. H. Fischer,
  • M. Z. Hasan,
  • J.-X. Yin,
  • T. Neupert,
  • J. Chang,
  • G. Xu,
  • S. Nakatsuji,
  • E. Pomjakushina,
  • D. J. Gawryluk,
  • Z. Guguchia

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01673-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract The kagome lattice is an intriguing and rich platform for discovering, tuning and understanding the diverse phases of quantum matter, crucial for advancing modern and future electronics. Despite considerable efforts, accessing correlated phases at room temperature has been challenging. Using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, we discovered charge order above room temperature in La(Ru1−x Fe x )3Si2 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05), where charge order related to out-of-plane Ru atom displacements appears below T CO,I ≃ 400 K. The secondary charge ordered phase emerges below T CO,II ≃ 80–170 K. Furthermore, first principles calculations reveal both the kagome flat band and the van Hove point near the Fermi energy in LaRu3Si2, driven by Ru-d z 2 orbitals. Our results identify LaRu3Si2 as the kagome superconductor with the highest known charge ordering temperature, offering a promising avenue for researching room temperature quantum phases and developing related technologies.