Uykur, EceOrtiz, Brenden R.Wilson, Stephen D.Dressel, MartinTsirlin, Alexander A.2025-05-0520222397-46481927201624http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:93-opus-ds-163100https://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/16310https://doi.org/10.18419/opus-16291Coexisting density-wave and superconducting states along with the large anomalous Hall effect in the absence of local magnetism remain intriguing and enigmatic features of the AV3Sb5 kagome metals (A = K, Rb, Cs). Here, we demonstrate via optical spectroscopy and density-functional calculations that low-energy dynamics of KV3Sb5 is characterized by unconventional localized carriers, which are strongly renormalized across the density-wave transition and indicative of electronic correlations. Strong phonon anomalies are prominent not only below the density-wave transition, but also at high temperatures, suggesting an intricate interplay of phonons with the underlying electronic structure. We further propose the star-of-David and tri-hexagon (inverse star-of-David) configurations for the density-wave order in KV3Sb5. These configurations are strongly reminiscent of p-wave states expected in the Hubbard model on the kagome lattice at the filling level of the van Hove singularity. The proximity to this regime should have intriguing and far-reaching implications for the physics of KV3Sb5 and related materials.enCC BYinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/530article2024-11-26