Footprint of time-reversal symmetry breaking in CsV3Sb5 marked in photoemission intensity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Footprint of time-reversal symmetry breaking in CsV 3 Sb 5 marked in photoemission intensity Yeong Kwan Kim, Jaehun Cha, Hyunggeun Lee, Sangjun Sim, Yeahan Sur, and 13 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6916414/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Spontaneous symmetry breaking in kagome metals has prompted intense debate, particularly regarding the charge density wave (CDW) phase in CsV 3 Sb 5 and whether time-reversal symmetry (TRS) is broken, and if so, when it occurs. Here, we try to resolve this issue by performing circular dichroism measurements in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on CsV 3 Sb 5 across an extended temperature range. We observe clear signatures of chiral symmetry breaking emerging at T * ≈ 145 K well above the conventional CDW temperature, manifested by a pronounced dichroic response in the photoemission intensity. Importantly, this phenomenon is unlikely to arise solely from structural distortions or domain effects, and rather indicates the presence of such an intriguing phase as loop current order that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Upon entering the CDW phase at T CDW ≈ 90K, the dichroic response evolves in a complex manner, reflecting the mixed nature of charge bonding and current order. These observations are supported by first-principles calculations and atomic orbital angular momentum (OAM) analysis, which together identify the dichroism as a characteristic of orbital polarization resulting from time-reversal symmetry breaking. Our findings indicate that CD-ARPES is an effective tool for investigating certain types of hidden orders, and provide insight into the symmetry-breaking characteristics of the CDW phase in kagome metals. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Electronic properties and materials Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Superconducting properties and materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6916414","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":479540451,"identity":"017b99c6-4b96-44a8-aac4-a2e7064b6812","order_by":0,"name":"Yeong Kwan 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