High-field superconducting halo in UTe 2

Lewin, Sylvia K. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156245881); Czajka, Peter [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000199380952); Frank, Corey E. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326387795); Saucedo Salas, Gicela [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0009000484404826); Noe II, G. Timothy [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:000000034263088X); Yoon, Hyeok [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000165535493); Eo, Yun Suk [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000287158649); Paglione, Johnpierre [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Toronto, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:000000017257014X); Nevidomskyy, Andriy H. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000286847979); Singleton, John [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:0000000161096905); Butch, Nicholas P. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000260838388)

doi:10.1126/science.adn7673

DOE OSTI · 3361750

High-field superconducting halo in UTe 2

Lewin, Sylvia K. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156245881)·Czajka, Peter [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000199380952)·Frank, Corey E. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326387795)·Saucedo Salas, Gicela [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0009000484404826)·Noe II, G. Timothy [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:000000034263088X)·Yoon, Hyeok [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000165535493)·Eo, Yun Suk [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000287158649)·Paglione, Johnpierre [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Toronto, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:000000017257014X)·Nevidomskyy, Andriy H. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000286847979)·Singleton, John [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:0000000161096905)·Butch, Nicholas P. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000260838388)

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Abstract

The heavy fermion material UTe 2 is a candidate topological superconductor that exhibits multiple magnetic field–induced superconducting phases. One such phase exists only at fields greater than 40 tesla, a considerable scale given its critical temperature of only 2 K. Here, in this work, we extend measurements of this state with fields outside of the bc crystallographic plane and reveal its core structure: The superconducting phase wraps around the b axis in a halo-like fashion and appears to be stabilized by a field component perpendicular to the magnetic easy axis. This angle dependence points to a multicomponent spin-triplet order parameter with a finite angular momentum of the Cooper pairs. The pairing mechanism remains enigmatic, and UTe 2 ’s specific magnetophilic superconducting tendencies seem incompatible with existing models for field-enhanced superconductivity.

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Lewin, Sylvia K. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156245881), Czajka, Peter [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000199380952), Frank, Corey E. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326387795), Saucedo Salas, Gicela [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0009000484404826), Noe II, G. Timothy [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:000000034263088X), Yoon, Hyeok [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000165535493), Eo, Yun Suk [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000287158649), Paglione, Johnpierre [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Toronto, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:000000017257014X), Nevidomskyy, Andriy H. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000286847979), Singleton, John [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)] (ORCID:0000000161096905), Butch, Nicholas P. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000260838388). 2025-07-31. High-field superconducting halo in UTe 2. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn7673

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