The magnetic superconducting mysteries of heavy-fermion metal UTe2

Categorie(s) : News, Research

Published : 6 June 2022

UTe2 , which confounds a 60-year-old theory of superconductivity, has captured the scientific community’s attention ever since it was discovered in 2018.
Researchers at Irig have now determined that a much stronger than normal magnetic field is required to destroy UTe2 ’s superconductivity.
Even more surprising is that the material’s superconductivity actually gets stronger under magnetic fields between 15 tesla and 35 tesla—ten to a hundred times stronger than what conventional materials can withstand.
And, under a magnetic field between 45 tesla and 60 tesla, a new superconducting state is observed.
A “spin-triplet” state could explain this particularly robust superconductivity.
Neutron scattering experiments at ILL point to magnetic fluctuations as playing a role in UTe2 ’s unusual behavior.

Contacts: georg.knebel@cea.fr; stephane.raymond@cea.fr

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