{"id":368129,"date":"2025-08-23T21:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368129\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T21:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:06:10","slug":"scientists-discover-strange-new-quantum-behavior-in-superconducting-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368129\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Discover Strange New Quantum Behavior in Superconducting Material"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Magnetism<\/a>Researchers confirmed active flat bands in a kagome superconductor, opening new possibilities for designing quantum materials and future electronic technologies. (Artist\u2019s concept). Credit: SciTechDaily.com<\/p>\n

A research team has provided the first experimental proof that flat electronic bands in a kagome superconductor are active and directly shape electronic and magnetic behaviors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers from Rice University, working with international partners, have found the first clear evidence of active flat electronic bands within a kagome superconductor. The discovery marks an important step toward creating new strategies for designing quantum materials, including superconductors, topological insulators, and spin-based electronics, which could play a central role in advancing future electronics and computing.<\/p>\n

The findings, published on August 14 in Nature Communications, focus on the chromium-based kagome metal CsCr\u2083Sb\u2085, a material that becomes superconducting when placed under pressure.<\/p>\n

Kagome metals are defined by their unique two-dimensional lattice of corner-sharing triangles. Recent theories have suggested that these structures can host compact molecular orbitals, or standing-wave patterns of electrons, which may enable unconventional superconductivity and unusual magnetic states driven by electron correlation effects.<\/p>\n

In most known materials, such flat bands are positioned too far from the relevant energy levels to influence behavior. In CsCr\u2083Sb\u2085, however, they play an active role and directly shape the properties of the material.<\/p>\n

Pengcheng Dai, Ming Yi,\u00a0and\u00a0Qimiao Si\u00a0of Rice\u2019s Department of Physics and Astronomy and Smalley-Curl Institute, along with Di-Jing Huang of Taiwan\u2019s National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, led the study.<\/p>\n

\"Ming<\/a>Ming Yi. Credit: Jeff Fitlow\/Rice University<\/p>\n

\u201cOur results confirm a surprising theoretical prediction and establish a pathway for engineering exotic superconductivity through chemical and structural control,\u201d said Dai, the Sam and Helen Worden Professor of Physics and Astronomy.<\/p>\n

The finding provides experimental proof for ideas that had only existed in theoretical models. It also shows how the intricate geometry of kagome lattices can be used as a design tool for controlling the behavior of electrons in solids.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy identifying active flat bands, we\u2019ve demonstrated a direct connection between lattice geometry and emergent quantum states,\u201d said Yi, an associate professor of physics and astronomy.<\/p>\n

Experimental Techniques and Findings<\/p>\n

The research team employed two advanced synchrotron techniques alongside theoretical modeling to investigate the presence of active standing-wave electron modes. They used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to map electrons emitted under synchrotron light, revealing distinct signatures associated with compact molecular orbitals. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measured magnetic excitations linked to these electronic modes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ARPES and RIXS results of our collaborative team give a consistent picture that flat bands here are not passive spectators but active participants in shaping the magnetic and electronic landscape,\u201d said Si, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy, \u201cThis is amazing to see given that, until now, we were only able to see such features in abstract theoretical models.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theoretical support was provided by analyzing the effect of strong correlations starting from a custom-built electronic lattice model, which replicated the observed features and guided the interpretation of results.\u00a0Fang Xie, a Rice Academy Junior Fellow and co-first author, led that portion of the study.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obtaining such precise data required unusually large and pure crystals of CsCr\u2083Sb\u2085, synthesized using a refined method that produced samples 100 times larger than previous efforts, said\u00a0Zehao Wang, a Rice graduate student and co-first author.<\/p>\n

The work underscores the potential of interdisciplinary research across fields of study, said\u00a0Yucheng Guo, a Rice graduate student and co-first author who led the ARPES work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work was possible due to the collaboration that consisted of materials design, synthesis, electron and magnetic spectroscopy characterization, and theory,\u201d Guo said.<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cSpin excitations and flat electronic bands in a Cr-based kagome superconductor\u201d by Zehao Wang, Yucheng Guo, Hsiao-Yu Huang, Fang Xie, Yuefei Huang, Bin Gao, Ji Seop Oh, Han Wu, Jun Okamoto, Ganesha Channagowdra, Chien-Te Chen, Feng Ye, Xingye Lu, Zhaoyu Liu, Zheng Ren, Yuan Fang, Yiming Wang, Ananya Biswas, Yichen Zhang, Ziqin Yue, Cheng Hu, Chris Jozwiak, Aaron Bostwick, Eli Rotenberg, Makoto Hashimoto, Donghui Lu, Junichiro Kono, Jiun-Haw Chu, Boris I. Yakobson, Robert J. Birgeneau, Guang-Han Cao, Atsushi Fujimori, Di-Jing Huang, Qimiao Si, Ming Yi and Pengcheng Dai, 14 August 2025,\u00a0Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038\/s41467-025-62298-5<\/a><\/p>\n

Funding: U.S. Department of Energy, Welch Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. National Science Foundation<\/p>\n

Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers confirmed active flat bands in a kagome superconductor, opening new possibilities for designing quantum materials and future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3845],"tags":[74,63040,31563,70,21687,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-368129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-physics","9":"tag-quantum-materials","10":"tag-rice-university","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-superconductivity","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115080120807354811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}