Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe2

Z. Wu; T. I. Weinberger; J. Chen; A. Cabala; D. V. Chichinadze; D. Shaffer; J. Pospíšil; J. Prokleška; T. Haidamak; G. Bastien; V. Sechovský; A. J. Hickey; M. J. Mancera-Ugarte; S. Benjamin; D. E. Graf; Y. Skourski; G. G. Lonzarich; M. Vališka; F. M. Grosche; A. G. Eaton

doi:10.1073/pnas.2403067121

Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe₂

Z. Wu (Co-first Author)
, T. I. Weinberger (Co-first Author)
, J. Chen
, A. Cabala
, D. V. Chichinadze
, D. Shaffer
, J. Pospíšil
, J. Prokleška
, T. Haidamak
, G. Bastien
, V. Sechovský
, A. J. Hickey
, M. J. Mancera-Ugarte
, S. Benjamin
, D. E. Graf
, Y. Skourski
, G. G. Lonzarich
, M. Vališka
, F. M. Grosche
, A. G. Eaton^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

The unconventional superconductor UTe₂ exhibits numerous signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity—a rare state of matter which could enable quantum computation protected against decoherence. UTe₂ possesses a complex phase landscape comprising two magnetic field-induced superconducting phases, a metamagnetic transition to a field-polarized state, along with pair- and charge-density wave orders. However, contradictory reports between studies performed on UTe₂ 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 generation of pristine quality UTe₂ 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 UTe₂ between two distinct spin-triplet superconducting phases. © 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Original language	English
Article number	e2403067121
Number of pages	10
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	121
Issue number	37
Online published	6 Sept 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403067121
Publication status	Published - 10 Sept 2024
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This project was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK (grant no. EP/X011992/1). A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by NSF Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1644779 and DMR-2128556 and the State of Florida. We acknowledge support of the Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden (HLD) at Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR), a member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL). The EMFL also supported dual-access to facilities at Materials Growth and Measurement Laboratory (MGML), Charles University, Prague, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the ISABEL project (No. 871106). Crystal growth and characterization were performed in MGML (https://mgml.eu/), which is supported within the program of Czech Research Infrastructures (project no. LM2023065). We acknowledge financial support by the Czech Science Foundation, project No. 22-22322S. T.I.W. and A.J.H. acknowledge support from EPSRC studentships EP/R513180/1 and EP/M506485/1. T.I.W. and A.G.E. acknowledge support from QuantEmX grants from Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter (ICAM) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grants GBMF5305 and GBMF9616 and from the US NSF Grant Number 2201516 under the Accelnet program of Office of International Science and Engineering. D.V.C. acknowledges financial support from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory through a Dirac Fellowship, which is funded by the NSF (Grant No. DMR-1644779) and the State of Florida. A.G.E. acknowledges support from the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials through the Equipment Access Scheme enabling access to the Advanced Materials Characterisation Suite at Cambridge, grant numbers EP/P024947/1, EP/M000524/1, and EP/R00661X/1; and from Sidney Sussex College (University of Cambridge).

Research Keywords

heavy fermion
high magnetic fields
metamagnetism
triplet superconductivity

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Wu, Z., Weinberger, T. I., Chen, J., Cabala, A., Chichinadze, D. V., Shaffer, D., Pospíšil, J., Prokleška, J., Haidamak, T., Bastien, G., Sechovský, V., Hickey, A. J., Mancera-Ugarte, M. J., Benjamin, S., Graf, D. E., Skourski, Y., Lonzarich, G. G., Vališka, M., Grosche, F. M., & Eaton, A. G. (2024). Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe₂. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(37), Article e2403067121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403067121

@article{180110ca440648fc8a630ae6de40a04e,

title = "Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe2",

abstract = "The unconventional superconductor UTe2 exhibits numerous signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity—a rare state of matter which could enable quantum computation protected against decoherence. UTe2 possesses a complex phase landscape comprising two magnetic field-induced superconducting phases, a metamagnetic transition to a field-polarized state, along with pair- and charge-density wave orders. However, contradictory reports between studies performed on UTe2 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 generation of pristine quality UTe2 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 UTe2 between two distinct spin-triplet superconducting phases. {\textcopyright} 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.",

keywords = "heavy fermion, high magnetic fields, metamagnetism, triplet superconductivity",

author = "Z. Wu and Weinberger, \{T. I.\} and J. Chen and A. Cabala and Chichinadze, \{D. V.\} and D. Shaffer and J. Posp{\'i}{\v s}il and J. Prokle{\v s}ka and T. Haidamak and G. Bastien and V. Sechovsk{\'y} and Hickey, \{A. J.\} and Mancera-Ugarte, \{M. J.\} and S. Benjamin and Graf, \{D. E.\} and Y. Skourski and Lonzarich, \{G. G.\} and M. Vali{\v s}ka and Grosche, \{F. M.\} and Eaton, \{A. G.\}",

year = "2024",

month = sep,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2403067121",

language = "English",

volume = "121",

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Wu, Z, Weinberger, TI, Chen, J, Cabala, A, Chichinadze, DV, Shaffer, D, Pospíšil, J, Prokleška, J, Haidamak, T, Bastien, G, Sechovský, V, Hickey, AJ, Mancera-Ugarte, MJ, Benjamin, S, Graf, DE, Skourski, Y, Lonzarich, GG, Vališka, M, Grosche, FM & Eaton, AG 2024, 'Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe₂', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121, no. 37, e2403067121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403067121

Enhanced triplet superconductivity in next-generation ultraclean UTe₂. / Wu, Z. (Co-first Author); Weinberger, T. I. (Co-first Author); Chen, J. et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 121, No. 37, e2403067121, 10.09.2024.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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AU - Chichinadze, D. V.

AU - Shaffer, D.

AU - Pospíšil, J.

AU - Prokleška, J.

AU - Haidamak, T.

AU - Bastien, G.

AU - Sechovský, V.

AU - Hickey, A. J.

AU - Mancera-Ugarte, M. J.

AU - Benjamin, S.

AU - Graf, D. E.

AU - Skourski, Y.

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AU - Eaton, A. G.

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N2 - The unconventional superconductor UTe2 exhibits numerous signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity—a rare state of matter which could enable quantum computation protected against decoherence. UTe2 possesses a complex phase landscape comprising two magnetic field-induced superconducting phases, a metamagnetic transition to a field-polarized state, along with pair- and charge-density wave orders. However, contradictory reports between studies performed on UTe2 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 generation of pristine quality UTe2 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 UTe2 between two distinct spin-triplet superconducting phases. © 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

AB - The unconventional superconductor UTe2 exhibits numerous signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity—a rare state of matter which could enable quantum computation protected against decoherence. UTe2 possesses a complex phase landscape comprising two magnetic field-induced superconducting phases, a metamagnetic transition to a field-polarized state, along with pair- and charge-density wave orders. However, contradictory reports between studies performed on UTe2 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 generation of pristine quality UTe2 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 UTe2 between two distinct spin-triplet superconducting phases. © 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

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KW - triplet superconductivity

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