DOE OSTI · 3361615
Pair wave function symmetry in UTe2 from zero-energy surface state visualization
Abstract
Although nodal spin-triplet topological superconductivity appears probable in uranium ditelluride (UTe 2 ), its superconductive order parameter Δ k remains unestablished. In theory, a distinctive identifier would be the existence of a superconductive topological surface band, which could facilitate zero-energy Andreev tunneling to an s-wave superconductor and also distinguish a chiral from a nonchiral Δ k through enhanced s-wave proximity. In this study, we used s-wave superconductive scan tips and detected intense zero-energy Andreev conductance at the UTe 2 (0-11) termination surface. Imaging revealed subgap quasiparticle scattering interference signatures with a-axis orientation. The observed zero-energy Andreev peak splitting with enhanced s-wave proximity signifies that Δ k of UTe 2 is a nonchiral state: B 1u , B 2u , or B 3u . However, if the quasiparticle scattering along the a axis is internodal, then a nonchiral B 3u state is the most consistent for UTe 2 .
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Gu, Qiangqiang [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)], Wang, Shuqiu [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom); Univ. of Bristol (United Kingdom)], Carroll, Joseph P. [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); Univ. College Cork (United Kingdom)], Zhussupbekov, Kuanysh [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); Univ. College Cork (United Kingdom)], Broyles, Christopher [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)], Ran, Sheng [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)], Butch, Nicholas P. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)], Horn, Jarryd A. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)], Saha, Shanta [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)], Paglione, Johnpierre [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON (Canada)], Liu, Xiaolong [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); University of Notre Dame, IN (United States)], Davis, J. C. Séamus [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom); Univ. of Cork (United Kingdom); Max Planck Society, Dresden (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Chemical Physics of Solids], Lee, Dung-Hai [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]. 2025-05-29. Pair wave function symmetry in UTe2 from zero-energy surface state visualization. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk7219
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