Observation of Vortex Stripes in UTe₂

TY - UNPB

T1 - Observation of Vortex Stripes in UTe2

AU - Wang, Youfang

AU - Yao, Hongxu

AU - Winyard, Thomas

AU - Broyles, Christopher

AU - Gould, Shannon

AU - He, Qiushi

AU - Liang, Keyi

AU - Li, Zhijie

AU - Zhang, Puhua

AU - Chen, Boren

AU - Yao, Kaizhong

AU - Zhou, Qizhi

AU - Zhu, Jinjiang

AU - Xiang, Bingke

AU - Agterberg, Daniel

AU - Babaev, Egor

AU - Ran, Sheng

AU - Wang, Yihua

PY - 2024/8/12

Y1 - 2024/8/12

N2 - Quantum vortices are fundamentally important for properties of superconductors. In conventional type-II superconductor they determine the magnetic response of the system and tend to form regular lattices. UTe is a recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor exhibiting many anomalous macroscopic behaviors. However, the question whether it has a multicomponent order parameter remains open. Here, we study magnetic properties of UTe by employing scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy. We find vortex behavior which is very different from that in ordinary superconductors. We imaged vortices generated by cooling in magnetic field applied along different crystalline directions. While a small out-of-plane magnetic field produces typical isolated vortices, higher field generates vortex stripe patterns which evolve with vortex density. The stripes form at different locations and along different directions in the surface plane when the vortices are crystalized along the crystalline b or c axes. The behavior is reproduced by our simulation based on an anisotropic two-component order parameter. This study shows that UTe has a nontrivial disparity of multiple length scales, placing constraints on multicomponent superconductivity. The tendency of vortex stripe formation and their control by external field may be useful in fluxonics applications.

AB - Quantum vortices are fundamentally important for properties of superconductors. In conventional type-II superconductor they determine the magnetic response of the system and tend to form regular lattices. UTe is a recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor exhibiting many anomalous macroscopic behaviors. However, the question whether it has a multicomponent order parameter remains open. Here, we study magnetic properties of UTe by employing scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy. We find vortex behavior which is very different from that in ordinary superconductors. We imaged vortices generated by cooling in magnetic field applied along different crystalline directions. While a small out-of-plane magnetic field produces typical isolated vortices, higher field generates vortex stripe patterns which evolve with vortex density. The stripes form at different locations and along different directions in the surface plane when the vortices are crystalized along the crystalline b or c axes. The behavior is reproduced by our simulation based on an anisotropic two-component order parameter. This study shows that UTe has a nontrivial disparity of multiple length scales, placing constraints on multicomponent superconductivity. The tendency of vortex stripe formation and their control by external field may be useful in fluxonics applications.

U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2408.06209

DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2408.06209

M3 - Preprint

BT - Observation of Vortex Stripes in UTe2

PB - arXiv

ER -