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Register a new userMicroscopic evidence for a chiral superconducting order parameter in the heavy fermion superconductor UTe2
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Spin-triplet superconductivity is a condensate of electron pairs with spin-1 and an odd-parity wavefunction. A particularly interesting manifestation of triplet pairing is a chiral p-wave state which is topologically non-trivial and a natural platform for realizing Majorana edge modes. Triplet pairing is however rare in solid state systems and so far, no unambiguous identification has been made in any bulk compound. Since pairing is most naturally mediated by ferromagnetic spin fluctuations, uranium based heavy fermion systems containing f electron elements that can harbor both strong correlations and magnetism are considered ideal candidate spin-triplet superconductors. In this work we present scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of the newly discovered heavy fermion superconductor, UTe2 with a T$_{SC}$ of 1.6 K. We find signatures of coexisting Kondo effect and superconductivity which show competing spatial modulations within one unit-cell. STM spectroscopy at step edges show signatures of chiral in-gap states, predicted to exist at the boundaries of a topological superconductor. Combined with existing data indicating triplet pairing, the presence of chiral edge states suggests that UTe2 is a strong candidate material for chiral-triplet topological superconductivity.
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Point-contact spectroscopy was performed on single crystals of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn_5 between 150 mK and 2.5 K. A pulsed measurement technique ensured minimal Joule heating over a wide voltage range. The spectra show Andreev-reflection characteristics with multiple structures which depend on junction impedance. Spectral analysis using the generalized Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism for d-wave pairing revealed two coexisting order parameter components, with amplitudes Delta_1 = 0.95 +/- 0.15 meV and Delta_2 = 2.4 +/- 0.3 meV, which evolve differently with temperature. Our observations indicate a highly unconventional pairing mechanism, possibly involving multiple bands.
We have studied the magnetization of the recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor UTe$_2$ up to 56 T in pulsed-magnetic fields. A first-order metamagnetic transition has been clearly observed at $H_{rm m}$ =34.9 T when the magnetic field $H$ is applied along the orthorhombic hard-magnetization $b$-axis. The transition has a critical end point at $sim$11 K and 34.8 T, where the first order transition terminates and changes into a crossover regime. Using the thermodynamic Maxwell relation, we have evaluated the field dependence of the Sommerfeld coefficient of the specific heat directly related to the superconducting pairing. From the analysis, we found a significant enhancement of the effective mass centered at $H_{rm m}$, which is reminiscent of the field-reentrant superconductivity of the ferromagnet URhGe in transverse fields. We discuss the origin of their field-robust superconductivity.
We present different transport measurements up to fields of 29~T in the recently discovered heavy-fermion superconductor UTe$_{2}$ with magnetic field $H$ applied along the easy magnetization a-axis of the body-centered orthorhombic structure. The thermoelectric power varies linearly with temperature above the superconducting transition, $T_{SC}= 1.5$ K, indicating that superconductivity develops in a Fermi liquid regime. As a function of field the thermolelectric power shows successive anomalies which are attributed to field-induced Fermi surface instabilities. These Fermi-surface instabilities appear at critical values of the magnetic polarization. Remarkably, the lowest magnetic field instability for $Hparallel a$ occurs for the same critical value of the magnetization (0.4 $mu_B$) than the first order metamagnetic transition at 35~T for field applied along the $b$-axis. The estimated number of charge carriers at low temperature reveals a metallic ground state distinct from LDA calculations indicating that strong electronic correlations are a major issue in this compound.
The superconducting gap structure of recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12 was investigated by using thermal transport measurements in magnetic field rotated relative to the crystal axes. We demonstrate that a novel change in the symmetry of the superconducting gap function occurs deep inside the superconducting state, giving a clear indication of the presence of two distinct superconducting phases with twofold and fourfold symmetries. We infer that the gap functions in both phases have a point node singularity, in contrast to the familiar line node singularity observed in almost all unconventional superconductors.
Point-contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy was performed on single crystals of the heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$, down to 90mK and up to 3Tesla. The conductance spectra showed multiple structures, including zero-bias peaks and spectral dips, which are interpreted as signatures of multiple pairing gaps, one clearly having nodes. Samples with 2% Ru replacing Os were also measured, showing pronounced spectral humps consistent with the emergence of a non-nodal gap. Detailed analysis of the spectral evolution revealed a magnetic field-emph{vs.}-temperature phase diagram for PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ characterized by two distinct superconducting order parameters.
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