Multicomponent superconducting order parameter in UTe<sub>2</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34385397.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.abb0272.
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Abstract
An unconventional superconducting state was recently discovered in uranium ditelluride (UTe<sub>2</sub>), 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<sub>2</sub> 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<sub>2</sub>.