Imaging Odd-Parity Quasiparticle Interference in Superconductive Surface State of UTe<sub>2</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

Although no known electronic material definitely exhibits a superconductive electron pairing potential Δ(k) with odd-parity, Δ-(k)=-Δk, UTe2 is now the leading candidate[i]-,[ii],[iii]. Ideally, the parity of Δ(k) might be established by using Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference (QPI) imaging, a recognized technique for Δ(k) determination in complex superconductors[iv]-[v][vi][vii]. However, odd-parity superconductors should support a unique Bogoliubov quasiparticle surface band (QSB) within the energy gap |E|≤Δ. Within such theories[vi], QPI should both be dominated by the electronic structure k(E) of the QSB, and yet reveal the bulk Δ(k) through its characteristics. Here, by using a superconductive scan-tip to greatly enhance QPI sensitivity in UTe2, we discover and visualize in-gap quasiparticle interference patterns of the surface band of UTe2. At the (0-11) surface, they consist of the sextet of in-gap QPI modulations with characteristic q-vectors qi: i=1-6. Moreover, we demonstrate that theoretical predictions for in-gap QPI at this specific surface are most consistent with these results, if bulk Δ(k) exhibits time-reversal conserving odd-parity, B3u symmetry[iii].



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Publication: [i] D. Aoki et al., Unconventional Superconductivity in Heavy Fermion UTe2, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 88, 043702 (2019).
[ii] S. Ran et al., Nearly ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductivity, Science 365, 684-687 (2019).
[iii] D. Aoki et al., Unconventional superconductivity in UTe2, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 34, 243002 (2022).
[iv] Q.-H. Wang and D.-H. Lee, Quasiparticle scattering interference in high-temperature superconductors, Phys. Rev. B 67, 020511 (2003).
[v] L. Capriotti, D. J. Scalapino, and R. D. Sedgewick, Wave-vector power spectrum of the local tunneling density of states: Ripples in a d-wave sea, Phys. Rev. B 68, 014508 (2003).
[vi] J. S. Hoffmann, R. Queiroz and A. P. Schnyder Phys. Rev. B 88, 134505 (2013).
[vii] J. E. Hoffman et al., Imaging Quasiparticle Interference in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, Science 297, 5584 1148-1151 (2002).

Presenters

  • Kuanysh Zhussupbekov

    • Cornell University

Authors

  • Kuanysh Zhussupbekov

    • Cornell University

  • Qiangqiang Gu

    • Cornell University

  • Shuqiu Wang

    • University of Bristol

  • Joseph Carroll

    • University College Cork

  • Emile Pangburn

    • Universite Paris-Saclay

  • Catherine Pépin

    • 5. Institut de Physique Theorique - Université Paris-Saclay

  • Sheng Ran

    • Washington University, St. Louis

  • Nicholas P Butch

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

  • Johnpierre Paglione

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

  • Xiaolong Liu

    • University of Notre Dame
    • University of Notre Dame, Stavropoulos Center for Complex Quantum Matter
    • Cornell University

  • Seamus Davis

    • University of Oxford, UC Cork
    • University of Oxford