A unique van Hove singularity in kagome superconductor CsV3-xTaxSb5 with enhanced superconductivity

Abstract

Van Hove singularity (VHS) has been considered as a driving source for unconventional superconductivity. A VHS in two-dimensional (2D) materials consists of a saddle point connecting electron-like and hole-like bands. In a rare case, when a VHS appears at Fermi level, both electron-like and hole-like conduction can coexist, giving rise to an enhanced density of states as well as an attractive component of Coulomb interaction for unconventional electronic pairing. However, this van Hove scenario is often destroyed by an incorrect chemical potential or competing instabilities. Here, by using angle-resolved photoemission measurements, we report the observation of a VHS perfectly aligned with the Fermi level in a kagome superconductor CsV_3-xTa_xSb₅ (x ~ 0.4), in which a record-high superconducting transition temperature is achieved among all the current variants of AV₃Sb₅ (A = Cs, Rb, K) at ambient pressure. Doping dependent measurements reveal the important role of van Hove scenario in boosting superconductivity, and spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy measurements indicate a distinct superconducting state in this system.

The authors present ARPES and STM/STS measurements of the kagome superconductor CsV_3-xTa_xSb₅. For the x = 0.4 Ta-doped sample, they report evidence for a van Hove singularity perfectly aligned with the Fermi level, and that the superconducting transition temperature is maximized at this doping.