Intermediate valence UTe<sub>2</sub> under pressure
· Invited
Abstract
Spin-triplet superconductors are a promising route in the search for topological superconductivity, and UTe2 is a recently discovered contender. Electrical resistivity, ac calorimetry, and x-ray absorption measurements of UTe2 under applied pressure reveal an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point near a critical pressure of 1.3 GPa. The emergence of magnetism is accompanied by an increase in valence toward a U4+ (5f2) state, which indicates that UTe2 exhibits intermediate valence at ambient pressure. At the end of the talk I will discuss new insights learned from dilatometry measurements as well as outstanding open questions regarding superconductivity in this material.
*The experimental work at Los Alamos was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Science and Engineering under project “Quantum Fluctuations in Narrow-Band Systems.”
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Presenters
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Sean Thomas
- Los Alamos National laboratory
- Los Alamos National Laboratory