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DOE OSTI2021

Field-induced transition within the superconducting state of CeRh 2 As 2

Not your usual superconductor Most superconductors have only one superconducting phase. Khim et al . measured the magnetic susceptibility of the heavy fermion material CeRh 2 As 2 to reveal the presence of two distinct superconducting phases, one of which emerges from the other when an external magnetic field is applied (see the Perspective by Pourret and Knebel). The researchers ascribe the unusual properties of CeRh 2 As 2 to its crystal structure, which is globally centrosymmetric but consists of noncentrosymmetric layers. —JS

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DOE OSTI2021

Multicomponent superconducting order parameter in UTe 2

An unconventional superconducting state was recently discovered in uranium ditelluride (UTe 2 ), 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 UTe 2 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 UTe 2 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗