Microscopic evidence for anisotropic multigap superconductivity in the CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ kagome superconductor

TL;DR

This study provides microscopic evidence that CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ is a multigap superconductor with anisotropic properties, exhibiting unconventional features and a complex electronic structure involving charge order and topological states.

Contribution

First microscopic demonstration of multigap ($s+s$)-wave superconductivity in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, revealing its multiband nature and unconventional characteristics.

Findings

Superconducting gap exhibits ($s+s$)-wave symmetry.

Multiband superconductivity validated by different temperature dependences.

Superconductivity does not break time reversal symmetry.

Abstract

The recently discovered kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ ($T_c \simeq 2.5$ K) has been found to host charge order as well as a non-trivial band topology, encompassing multiple Dirac points and probable surface states. Such a complex and phenomenologically rich system is, therefore, an ideal playground for observing unusual electronic phases. Here, we report on microscopic studies of its anisotropic superconducting properties by means of transverse-field muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) experiments. The temperature dependences of the in-plane and out-of-plane components of the magnetic penetration depth $\lambda_{ab}^{-2}(T)$ and $\lambda_{c}^{-2}(T)$ indicate that the superconducting order parameter exhibits a two-gap ($s+s$)-wave symmetry, reflecting the multiple Fermi surfaces of CsV3Sb5. The multiband nature of its superconductivity is further validated by the different temperature dependences of the anisotropic magnetic penetration depth $\gamma_\lambda(T)$ and upper critical field $\gamma_{\rm B_{c2}}(T)$, both in close analogy with the well known two-gap superconductor MgB$_2$. Remarkably, the high value of the $T_c/\lambda^{-2}(0)$ ratio in both field orientations strongly suggests the unconventional nature of superconductivity. The relaxation rates obtained from zero field $\mu$SR experiments do not show noticeable change across the superconducting transition, indicating that superconductivity does not break time reversal symmetry.