Polar Kerr effect measurements of UTe<sub>2</sub> using Sagnac interferometry.

ORAL

Abstract

The heavy fermion compound UTe2 was recently found to superconduct with TC = 1.6K, showing paramagnetic behavior and closely resembling the family of uranium based ferromagnetic superconductors [Ran et al., Science, 2019]. This initial study presented strong evidence of spin-triplet superconductivity, likely mediated by ferromagnetic fluctuations, which have been shown to occur below TC in μSR experiments [Sundar et al., arXiv, 2019]. Additionally, a recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiment claims signatures of chiral modes inside of the superconducting gap, raising the possibility of topological superconductivity [Jiao et al., arXiv, 2019]. A direct measurement of possible time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking effects in this system can provide insight on the exact order parameter of UTe2, as well as evidence for the possible topological nature of the system. We present measurements of the polar Kerr effect using Sagnac interferometry in search for a possible TRS breaking state, and to examine ferromagnetic fluctuations in the Meissner and vortex states of this material.

*Work at Stanford University was supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

–

Presenters

  • Di Wei

    • Stanford University

Authors

  • Di Wei

    • Stanford University

  • Jian Zhang

    • Fudan University

  • Sheng Ran

    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • University of Maryland, College Park
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Physics Department, University of Maryland
    • University of Maryland
    • University of Maryland, College Park & NIST
    • Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research

  • Johnpierre Paglione

    • University of Maryland, College Park
    • Physics Department, University of Maryland
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland College Park
    • Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park
    • University of Maryland, College Park & NIST
    • Univ of Maryland-Colege Park
    • Center for Quantum Materials, University of Maryland
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland-College Park,College Park, Maryland 20742

  • Nicholas Butch

    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Center of Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research
    • NIST center for neutron research
    • NIST
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
    • University of Maryland, College Park & NIST
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research

  • Aharon Kapitulnik

    • Stanford Univ
    • Physics, Stanford University
    • Stanford University