Back to Search Start Over

Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next generation ultraclean UTe2

Authors :
Wu, Z.
Weinberger, T. I.
Chen, J.
Cabala, A.
Chichinadze, D. V.
Shaffer, D.
Pospisil, J.
Prokleska, J.
Haidamak, T.
Bastien, G.
Sechovsky, V.
Hickey, A. J.
Mancera-Ugarte, M. J.
Benjamin, S.
Graf, D. E.
Skourski, Y.
Lonzarich, G. G.
Valiska, M.
Grosche, F. M.
Eaton, A. G.
Source :
PNAS 121 (37) e2403067121 (2024)
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

The unconventional superconductor UTe$_2$ exhibits numerous signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity -- a rare state of matter which could enable quantum computation protected against decoherence. UTe$_2$ possesses a complex phase landscape comprising two magnetic field-induced superconducting phases, a metamagnetic transition to a field-polarised state, along with pair- and charge-density wave orders. However, contradictory reports between studies performed on UTe$_2$ specimens of varying quality have severely impeded theoretical efforts to understand the microscopic origins of the exotic superconductivity. Here, we report a comprehensive suite of high magnetic field measurements on a new generation of pristine quality UTe$_2$ crystals. Our experiments reveal a significantly revised high magnetic field superconducting phase diagram in the ultraclean limit, showing a pronounced sensitivity of field-induced superconductivity to the presence of crystalline disorder. We employ a Ginzburg-Landau model that excellently captures this acute dependence on sample quality. Our results suggest that in close proximity to a field--induced metamagnetic transition the enhanced role of magnetic fluctuations -- that are strongly suppressed by disorder -- is likely responsible for tuning UTe$_2$ between two distinct spin-triplet superconducting phases.

Details

Database :
arXiv
Journal :
PNAS 121 (37) e2403067121 (2024)
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.2305.19033
Document Type :
Working Paper
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403067121