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Symmetry-broken Kondo screening and zero-energy mode in CsV3Sb5

Mar 24th 2026 ยท China

High-resolution STM measurements on CsV3Sb5 show that magnetic Cr dopants produce an anisotropic, symmetry-broken Kondo screening pattern tied to underlying charge order, while native V vacancies host a robust zero-energy bound state, and theory links both phenomena to coexisting charge-density-wave and loop-current orders.

  • STM on Cr-doped CsV3Sb5 reveals a Kondo resonance localized at individual Cr dopants.
  • The spatial pattern of Kondo screening breaks sixfold lattice symmetry and aligns with unidirectional 4a0 charge order inside C2 nematic domains.
  • Pristine vanadium-site vacancies host a robust zero-energy bound state detected by STM.
  • Mean-field modelling that includes charge-density-wave and loop current orders reproduces the chiral asymmetric Kondo screening and can stabilize a zero-energy mode.
  • Temperature and magnetic-field dependence show the impurity-induced Kondo resonance and zero-energy state respond to perturbations consistent with bound-state behaviour.
  • All experimental data are available at the cited DOI and analysis code can be obtained from the corresponding authors on request.