Multicomponent superconducting order parameter in UTe ₂

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0272· OSTI ID:1812975

Hayes, I. M. ^[1]; Wei, D. S. ^[2]; Metz, T. ^[3]; Zhang, J. ^[4]; Eo, Y. S. ^[1]; Ran, S. ^[5]; Saha, S. R. ^[6]; Collini, J. ^[1]; Butch, N. P. ^[7]; Agterberg, D. F. ^[8]; Kapitulnik, A. ^[9]; Paglione, J. ^[10]

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1. Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
2. NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA., Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
3. State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China., Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
4. Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA., State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
5. Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA., NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
6. Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA., NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
7. State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China., Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA., Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA., NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
8. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA.
9. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA., Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
10. State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China., Department of Physics, Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA., NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA., The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

An unconventional superconducting state was recently discovered in uranium ditelluride (UTe ₂ ), in which spin-triplet superconductivity emerges from the paramagnetic normal state of a heavy-fermion material. The coexistence of magnetic fluctuations and superconductivity, together with the crystal structure of this material, suggests that a distinctive set of symmetries, magnetic properties, and topology underlie the superconducting state. Here, we report observations of a nonzero polar Kerr effect and of two transitions in the specific heat upon entering the superconducting state, which together suggest that the superconductivity in UTe ₂ is characterized by a two-component order parameter that breaks time-reversal symmetry. These data place constraints on the symmetries of the order parameter and inform the discussion on the presence of topological superconductivity in UTe ₂ .

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF); Stanford University; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515; SC0019154
• OSTI ID: 1812975
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1820093
• Journal Information: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6556 Vol. 373; ISSN 0036-8075
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY