Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Strain reveals two superconducting states in CsV3Sb5
Researchers in Japan stretched crystals of CsV3Sb5, a metal with a distinctive triangular atomic structure.
The material becomes superconducting at very low temperatures, but experiments have disagreed about the kind of superconducting state it supports.
It also has a separate pattern of electronic charge, making the relationship between the two behaviors hard to study.
The team applied strain in one direction and found that stretching raised the onset temperature for superconductivity from about 3.0 to 3.6 kelvin.
At the greatest stretch, measurements showed two states: one with nodes in its superconducting gap and one without.
The charge pattern stayed largely unchanged, allowing the researchers to examine superconductivity more separately.
The result may explain why earlier experiments reached different conclusions and could help scientists understand how superconductivity works in this material.
Researchers found two distinct superconducting states in the material CsV3Sb5 by applying strain along one direction.
At the highest tensile strain, one state appeared at 3.6 kelvin and a second at 3.0 kelvin.
The 3.6-kelvin transition was associated with a nodal state, while the 3.0-kelvin transition was associated with a nodeless state.
The charge density wave remained essentially unchanged as tensile strain raised the superconducting transition temperature.
The findings may help explain why earlier experiments reached different conclusions about the material’s superconducting gap.
- Who
- A team led by Associate Professor Shinji Kawasaki and Professor Guo-qing Zheng of Okayama University in Japan.
- What
- Researchers used strain to reveal two superconducting states in CsV3Sb5.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-10-11. The experiment date is not stated.
- Where
- Okayama University in Japan led the research; the specific experiment location is not stated.
- Why
- To investigate superconductivity separately from the charge density wave and help explain conflicting experimental results.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
For years, different measurements of CsV3Sb5 have pointed toward seemingly different superconducting states
Our results show that these states can coexist and that uniaxial strain can separate them, giving us a direct way to study each state.
CsV3Sb5 develops a charge density wave.
The article says CsV3Sb5 becomes superconducting.
The article reports a superconducting transition at approximately 3.0 kelvin.
The transition temperature rose to 3.6 kelvin, and researchers detected a second transition at 3.0 kelvin.
- Material
- CsV3Sb5, a kagome metal
- Research team
- Shinji Kawasaki and Guo-qing Zheng, Okayama University
- Charge density wave
- Develops at approximately 94 kelvin
- Unstrained transition
- Approximately 3.0 kelvin in the reported experiment
- Tensile strain
- +0.90%
- Transitions under highest tensile strain
- 3.6 kelvin, nodal; 3.0 kelvin, nodeless
Sources
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