Kagome Superconductor Quantum Materials

Published October 14, 2025

Left: Artistic rendition of two gap superconductivity from two Fermi surface pockets, on the atomic kagome motif. Right: Electrical transport, heat transport, and heat capacity evidence of two distinct superconducting regimes in CsV3Sb5, respectively.

Scientists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have discovered that the kagome superconductor CsV₃Sb₃ hosts not one but two distinct superconducting states. Unlike in any other known material, these states coexist without merging into a single phase. This surprising “double” superconductivity challenges long-standing theories and opens the door to new insights into how quantum materials can carry electricity without resistance.

What is the finding

Scientists discovered that a kagome superconductor CsV₃Sb₅ hosts two different superconducting states at the same time—something never seen before.

Why is this important?

Superconductivity is the ability of a material to conduct electricity with zero resistance. Kagome materials—named after a Japanese basket-weaving pattern of interlaced triangles and hexagons—have a distinctive atomic arrangement that gives rise to unusual electronic behavior and makes them promising candidates for unconventional superconductivity.

Cesium vanadium antimonide (CsV₃Sb₃) is the first material found with two coexisting superconducting gaps, overturning long-standing theories about superconductivity. Understanding this unusual behavior could inspire new technologies for energy-efficient electronics, quantum devices, and future computing platforms.

Who did the research?

Md Shafayat Hossain^1*, Qi Zhang^2*, Eun Sang Choi^3*, Danilo Ratkovski^3*, Bernhard Lüscher^4*, Yongkai Li^5*, Yu-Xiao Jiang², Maksim Litskevich², Zi-Jia Cheng², Jia-Xin Yin², Tyler A. Cochran², Brian Casas³, Byunghoon Kim², Xian Yang², Jinjin Liu⁵, Yugui Yao⁵, Alimamy Bangura³, Zhiwei Wang⁵, Mark H. Fischer⁴, Titus Neupert⁴, Luis Balicas³, M. Zahid Hasan²

¹University of California, Los Angeles, USA ²Princeton University, Princeton, USA. ³National MagLab, ⁴University of Zurich, ⁵Beijing Institute of Technology

Why did they need the MagLab?

The MagLab’s unique combination of very high magnetic fields and advanced low-temperature techniques made it possible to reveal this phenomenon.

Details for scientists

View or download the expert-level Science Highlight, A Tale of Two Uncoupled Superconducting Gaps
Read the full-length publication, Unconventional gapping behaviour in a kagome superconductor, in Nature Physics

Funding

This research was funded by the following grants: K. M. Amm (NSF DMR-2128556); M.Z.H. (Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; GBMF9461 and DOE/BES DE-FG-02-05ER46200); L.B. (DOE-BES through award DE-SC0002613)

For more information, contact Alimamy Bangura.