Hidden magnetism uncovered in a charge ordered bilayer kagome material ScV6Sn6

Z Guguchia; D J Gawryluk; S Shin; Z Hao; C Mielke Iii; D Das; I Plokhikh; L Liborio; J Kane Shenton; Y Hu; V Sazgari; M Medarde; H Deng; Y Cai; C Chen; Y Jiang; A Amato; M Shi; M Z Hasan; J-X Yin; R Khasanov; E Pomjakushina; H Luetkens

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-43503-9

Hidden magnetism uncovered in a charge ordered bilayer kagome material ScV₆Sn₆

Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 28;14(1):7796. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43503-9.

Authors

Z Guguchia¹, D J Gawryluk², S Shin^#³, Z Hao^#⁴, C Mielke Iii^{5

6}, D Das⁵, I Plokhikh³, L Liborio⁷, J Kane Shenton⁷, Y Hu⁸, V Sazgari⁵, M Medarde⁹, H Deng⁴, Y Cai¹⁰, C Chen¹⁰, Y Jiang¹¹, A Amato⁵, M Shi⁸, M Z Hasan^{11

12

13}, J-X Yin⁴, R Khasanov⁵, E Pomjakushina³, H Luetkens⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland. [email protected].
² Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland. [email protected].
³ Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
⁵ Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
⁶ Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland.
⁷ Scientific Computing Department, Science & Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK.
⁸ Photon Science Division, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
⁹ Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
¹¹ Laboratory for Topological Quantum Matter and Advanced Spectroscopy (B7), Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
¹² Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
¹³ Quantum Science Center, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Charge ordered kagome lattices have been demonstrated to be intriguing platforms for studying the intertwining of topology, correlation, and magnetism. The recently discovered charge ordered kagome material ScV₆Sn₆ does not feature a magnetic groundstate or excitations, thus it is often regarded as a conventional paramagnet. Here, using advanced muon-spin rotation spectroscopy, we uncover an unexpected hidden magnetism of the charge order. We observe an enhancement of the internal field width sensed by the muon ensemble, which takes place within the charge ordered state. More importantly, the muon spin relaxation rate below the charge ordering temperature is substantially enhanced by applying an external magnetic field. Taken together with the hidden magnetism found in AV₃Sb₅ (A = K, Rb, Cs) and FeGe kagome systems, our results suggest ubiqitous time-reversal symmetry-breaking in charge ordered kagome lattices.