Microscopic Imaging Homogeneous and Single Phase Superfluid Density in UTe_{2}

Yusuke Iguchi; Huiyuan Man; S M Thomas; Filip Ronning; Priscila F S Rosa; Kathryn A Moler

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.196003

Microscopic Imaging Homogeneous and Single Phase Superfluid Density in UTe_{2}

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 May 12;130(19):196003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.196003.

Authors

Yusuke Iguchi^{1

2}, Huiyuan Man^{1

3}, S M Thomas⁴, Filip Ronning⁴, Priscila F S Rosa⁴, Kathryn A Moler^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
² Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
³ Stanford Nano Shared Facilities, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
⁴ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
⁵ Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

PMID: 37243629
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.196003

Abstract

Odd-parity superconductor UTe_{2} shows spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking and multiple superconducting phases, which imply chiral superconductivity, but only in a subset of samples. Here we microscopically observe a homogeneous superfluid density n_{s} on the surface of UTe_{2} and an enhanced superconducting transition temperature near the edges. We also detect vortex-antivortex pairs even at zero magnetic field, indicating the existence of a hidden internal field. The temperature dependence of n_{s}, determined independent of sample geometry, does not support point nodes along the b axis for a quasi-2D Fermi surface and provides no evidence for multiple phase transitions in UTe_{2}.