Stretching a crystal by less than 1% has allowed scientists to separate two distinct superconducting states in a material that has puzzled physicists for years. The experiment also increased the temperature at which superconductivity begins, without substantially changing another form of electronic order within the crystal.
The findings could help settle a long-standing debate surrounding CsV3Sb5, an unusual metal whose superconducting properties have produced conflicting experimental results. By controlling strain along a single direction, researchers found a way to investigate superconductivity independently of the charge ordering that normally complicates its behavior.
CsV3Sb5 belongs to a family of materials called kagome metals, named for the distinctive pattern of interconnected triangles formed by their atomic structures. This geometry can produce unusual electronic behavior, including competing forms of quantum order.
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