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Resonance from antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations for superconductivity in UTe2

Journal Article · · Nature (London)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [1]
  1. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
  2. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
  5. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
We report superconductivity originates from the formation of bound (Cooper) pairs of electrons that can move through the lattice without resistance below the superconducting transition temperature $$T_c$$. Electron Cooper pairs in most superconductors form anti-parallel spin singlets with total spin S = 0, although they can also form parallel spin-triplet Cooper pairs with S = 1 and an odd parity wavefunction. Spin-triplet pairing is important because it can host topological states and Majorana fermions relevant for quantum computation. Because spin-triplet pairing is usually mediated by ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations3, uranium-based materials near an FM instability are considered to be ideal candidates for realizing spin-triplet superconductivity. Indeed, UTe2, which has a $$T_c$$ ≈ 1.6 K, has been identified as a candidate for a chiral spin-triplet topological superconductor near an FM instability, although it also has antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations. Here we use inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to show that superconductivity in UTe2 is coupled to a sharp magnetic excitation, termed resonance, at the Brillouin zone boundary near AF order. Because the resonance has only been found in spin-singlet unconventional superconductors near an AF instability, its observation in UTe2 suggests that AF spin fluctuations may also induce spin-triplet pairing or that electron pairing in UTe2 has a spin-singlet component.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); Robert A. Welch Foundation; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; FG02-04ER46105; SC0012311; SC0016568; SC0018197
OSTI ID:
1855660
Journal Information:
Nature (London), Journal Name: Nature (London) Journal Issue: 7890 Vol. 600; ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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