Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In conventional type-II superconductors, quantum vortices determine the magnetic response of the system and tend to form regular lattices. UTe 2 is a recently discovered heavy Fermion superconductor exhibiting many anomalous macroscopic behaviors, but whether it has a multicomponent order parameter remains open. Here, we study the vortices of UTe 2 by employing scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy. While a small out-of-plane magnetic field produces typical isolated vortices, a higher field generates vortex stripe patterns that evolve with the vortex density. The stripes form at different locations and along different directions in the surface plane when the field is along the b or c axis. The behavior is reproduced by our simulation based on an anisotropic two-component order parameter. This study shows that UTe 2 has a nontrivial disparity of multiple length scales, placing constraints on the multicomponent superconductivity.
Source: Nano Letters
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Edinburgh, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Division of Materials Research, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Washington University in St. Louis
OpenAlex ID: W4413140916