Field-dependent superconducting gap in UTe<sub>2</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

UTe₂ has emerged as a promising candidate for realizing spin-triplet superconductivity, characterized by critical ferromagnetic fluctuations and an extremely large, anisotropic upper critical field. Unexpectedly, for UTe2 with a superconducting transition temperature of 1.6K, unusual in-gap excitations are revealed in the tunneling conductance, alongside a significant residual density of states in specific heat measurements. Recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements have also suggested the presence of a tripet pair density wave that coexists with a charge density wave on the surface of the material. Here, we investigate field-dependent superconducting (SC) gap and charge density wave of UTe2 by STM. Utilizing a vector magnetic field, we visualize the distinct response of SC gap when fields are applied along different axes. Our results provide insights into the pairing mechanism in UTe2 from a microscopic perspective.

*We acknowledge support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under award number DE-SC0022101.

Presenters

  • Zhen Zhu

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Authors

  • Zhen Zhu

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Kaiming Liu

    • University of illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Sheng Ran

    • Washington University, St. Louis
  • Shanta R Saha

    • University of Maryland College Park
  • Johnpierre Paglione

    • University of Maryland College Park
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • Alexander Geoffrey Eaton

    • Univ of Cambridge
    • University of Cambridge
  • Vidya Madhavan

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign