Dimensionality of the reinforced superconductivity in UTe₂

Superconductivity in the heavy-fermion metal UTe₂ survives under high magnetic fields. The non-perturbative influence of the magnetic field complicates the determination of superconducting order parameters in the high-field phases. We report electronic transport anisotropy measurements in precisely aligned microbars in magnetic fields to 45 T. Our results reveal a highly directional vortex pinning force in the field-reinforced phase. The critical current is significantly suppressed for currents only along the c-direction, where the flux-flow voltage vanishes with slight angular misalignments of 4°—hallmarks of vortex lock-in transitions typically seen in quasi-2D superconductors like cuprates and pnictides. This marks the observation of a transition into a vortex lock-in state at the boundary between SC1 and SC2 states. These findings point to enhanced two-dimensionality in the high-field state, consistent with a change in the order parameter.