Defect Bound-States as a Probe of Unconventional Order Parameter in Doped Kagome Superconductor

Author: Almoalem, Avior

Affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Type: Contributed Talk

Session: Kagome superconductors and charge order

Date and Time: 20.07.2026, 12:35 - 12:55

The quasi-2D Kagome metals AV3Sb5 (A = Cs, K, Rb) have emerged as a rich platform to explore the interplay between geometric frustration, nontrivial band topology and strong electronic correlations which stems from a series of van-Hove singularities. This family of materials is characterized by the absence of any localized magnetic moments, with superconductivity emerging from a charge density wave state with broken time reversal symmetry. Superconductivity with broken time reversal symmetry was seen in μSR, Kerr effect and superconducting diode effect studies in some members of this family. The superconducting order-parameter in AV3Sb5-xSnx is particularly intriguing, with theoretical proposals ranging from sign-changing s± to chiral d+id pairing symmetries with increasing doping. Here, we investigate the doping evolution in RbV3Sb5-xSnx using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy. Close to optimal doping (x = 0.3), we uncover clear evidence for a two-gap superconducting order parameter, revealed both by distinct spectroscopic features and quasi-particle interference within the larger gap energies. Atomic-scale imaging of the Sb honeycomb layer further identifies two types of defect-induced bound states, absent in the pristine and lightly doped compounds. A systematic comparison between experiment and theory for the effects of magnetic and non-magnetic impurities on superconductivity allows us to identify the chiral state d+id as the order parameter in almost optimally doped RbV3Sb5-xSnx.