Mechanism of exotic density-wave and beyond-Migdal unconventional superconductivity in kagome metal AV₃Sb₅ (A = K, Rb, Cs).

Abstract

Exotic quantum phase transitions in metals, such as the electronic nematic state, have been discovered one after another and found to be universal now. The emergence of unconventional density-wave (DW) order in frustrated kagome metal AV₃Sb₅ and its interplay with exotic superconductivity attract increasing attention. We find that the DW in kagome metal is the bond order, because the sizable intersite attraction is caused by the quantum interference among paramagnons. This mechanism is important in kagome metals because the geometrical frustration prohibits the freezing of paramagnons. In addition, we uncover that moderate bond-order fluctuations mediate sizable pairing glue, and this mechanism gives rise to both singlet s-wave and triplet p-wave superconductivity. Furthermore, characteristic pressure-induced phase transitions in CsV₃Cb₅ are naturally understood by the present theory. Thus, both the exotic density wave and the superconductivity in geometrically frustrated kagome metals are explained by the quantum interference mechanism.