Interplay of competing bond-order and loop-current fluctuations as a possible mechanism for superconductivity in kagome metals

Abstract

The pairing symmetry and underlying mechanism for superconducting state of AV${}_3$Sb${}_5$ (A=K, Rb, Cs) kagome metal has been a topic of intense investigation. In this work, we consider an 8-band minimal model, which includes V, and the two types of Sb, both within and above/below the kagome plane. This model captures the Fermi surface pocket with significant in-plane Sb contribution near the zone center, and also has the two types of van Hove singularities (VHS), one of which has a strong out of plane Sb weight. By including V-V and V-planar Sb nearest-neighbor Coulomb interactions, we obtain the susceptibilities for fluctuating bond-order and loop-current in both charge and spin channels, and examine the resulting superconducting instabilities. In particular, we find that the time-reversal odd (even) charge-loop-current (charge bond-order) fluctuations favor unconventional (conventional) pairing symmetry such as $s_{+-}$ and $d+id$ ($s_{++}$). Recent experimental works have highlighted the presence of $s$-wave pairing with two distinct gaps, one isotropic and one anisotropic. We discuss how this scenario may be compatible with either $s_{++}$ or $s_{+-}$ pairing, with an isotropic gap on the pocket dominated by in-plane Sb, but a highly anisotropic gap on V-dominated bands.

10+18 pages