Spontaneous disordering of the Vortex Lattice in the chiral phase of UPt3 with H parallel to c.

ORAL

Abstract

The unconventional, topological superconductor UPt3 is suspected to have one chiral superconducting phase. We have performed small angle neutron scattering (SANS) from the vortex lattice (VL) in UPt3 at the Paul Scherrer Institute, ILL, and Oak Ridge National Lab with the magnetic field parallel to the hexagonal c-axis. The VL Bragg peaks in the chiral phase show a time-dependent behavior exhibiting a clear decrease of intensity with time. This spontaneous disordering occurs when the applied magnetic field is left constant, but order can be restored by small oscillations of the applied field. The spontaneous disordering occurs faster in higher quality samples which rules out defect pinning as a cause. The process also occurs faster at higher vortex densities suggesting that vortex-vortex interactions are driving the disorder.

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Presenters

  • Keenan Avers

    Physics, Northwestern University

Authors

  • Keenan Avers

    Physics, Northwestern University

  • Stephen Kuhn

    Duke University, Physics, University of Norte Dame

  • Morten Eskildsen

    Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Univ of Notre Dame, Physics, Univ of Notre Dame, Physics, University of Norte Dame

  • William Halperin

    Northwestern Univ, Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern Univ, Physics, Northwestern University

  • William Gannon

    Physics, Texas A&M, Texas A&M University

  • Jorge Gavilano

    Paul Scherrer Institute, Paul Scherrer Institue

  • Urs Gasser

    Paul Scherrer Institute, Paul Scherrer Institue

  • Gergely Nagy

    Paul Scherrer Institue

  • Charles Dewhurst

    Institut Laue-Langevin, Institut Laue Langevin

  • Lisa DeBeer-Schmitt

    Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory