Absence of Acoustic Phonon Anomaly in a Kagome Metal with Short-ranged Structural Modulation

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural transition in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$, revealing short-range order and no acoustic phonon anomaly, implying an unconventional charge density wave with weak electron-phonon coupling.

Contribution

It provides the first microscopic evidence that the structural transition in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$ is associated with short-range order and lacks phonon anomalies, indicating an unconventional CDW.

Findings

Superlattice order below T* is short-ranged.

No significant acoustic phonon anomaly observed.

Weak electron-phonon coupling suggested.

Abstract

Kagome lattice $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$ ($A$ = K, Rb, and Cs) superconductors without magnetism from vanadium $d$-electrons are intriguing because they have a novel charge density wave (CDW) order around 90 K and display superconductivity at $\sim$3 K that competes with the CDW order. Recently, CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$, isostructural to $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$, was found to have concurrent structural and magnetic phase transition at $T^{\ast}\approx$ 55 K that can be suppressed by pressure to induce superconductivity [Liu \textit{et al.}, \href{https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07761-x}{Nature \textbf{632}, 1032 (2024)}]. Here, we use elastic and inelastic X-ray scattering to study the microscopic origin of the structural transition in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$. Although our elastic measurements confirm the 4$\times$1$\times$1 superlattice order below $T^{\ast}$, its underlying correlation is rather short-ranged. Moreover, our inelastic measurements at the superlattice wavevectors around (3, 0, 0) find no evidence of a significant acoustic phonon anomaly below $T^{\ast}$, similar to the case of $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$. The absence of acoustic phonon anomaly indicates a weak electron-phonon coupling in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$, suggesting that the structural transition is likely associated with an unconventional CDW order.