Quantum Phase Transition as a Promising Route to Enhance the Critical Current in Kagome Superconductor CsV3Sb5

Abstract

Developing strategies to systematically increase the critical current, the threshold current below which the superconductivity exists, is an important goal of materials science. Here, the concept of quantum phase transition is employed to enhance the critical current of a kagome superconductor CsV₃Sb₅, which exhibits a charge density wave (CDW) and superconductivity that are both affected by hydrostatic pressure. As the CDW phase is rapidly suppressed under pressure, a large enhancement in the self-field critical current (I_{c, sf}) is recorded. The observation of a peak-like enhancement of I_{c, sf} at the zero-temperature limit (I_{c, sf}(0)) centered at p* ≈ 20 kbar, the same pressure where the CDW phase transition vanishes, further provides strong evidence of a zero-temperature quantum anomaly in this class of pressure-tuned superconductor. Such a peak in I_{c, sf}(0) resembles the findings in other well-established quantum-critical superconductors, hinting at the presence of enhanced quantum fluctuations associated with the CDW phase in CsV₃Sb₅.

Keywords: critical current; high‐pressure; kagome superconductors; quantum phase transition.