There has been a recent surge of interest in UTe due to its unconventional magnetic field (H)-reinforced spin-triplet superconducting phases persisting at fields far above the simple Pauli limit for . Magnetic fields in excess of 35 T then induce a field-polarized magnetic state via a first-order-like phase transition. More controversially, for field orientations close to and above 40 T, electrical resistivity measurements suggest that a further superconducting state may exist. However, no Meissner effect or thermodynamic evidence exists to date for this phase making it difficult to exclude alternative scenarios. In this paper, we describe a study using thermal, electrical, and magnetic probes in magnetic fields of up to 55 T applied between the [010] (b) and [001] (c) directions. Our MHz conductivity data reveal the field-induced state of low or vanishing electrical resistance; our simultaneous magnetocaloric effect measurements (i.e. changes in sample temperature due to changing magnetic field) show the first definitive evidence for adiabaticity and thermal behavior characteristic of bulk field-induced superconductivity.
Keywords: high pulsed magnetic fields; magnetocaloric effect; proximity detector oscillator; unconventional superconductivity.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences 2023.