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Multicomponent superconducting order parameter in UTe2.

Ian M HayesDi S WeiT MetzJian ZhangYun Suk EoSheng RanShanta SahaJ ColliniNicholas P ButchD F AgterbergAharon KapitulnikJohnpierre Paglione
Published in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2021)
An unconventional superconducting state was recently discovered in uranium ditelluride (UTe2), 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 UTe2 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 UTe2.
Keyphrases
  • molecularly imprinted
  • room temperature
  • ionic liquid
  • density functional theory