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Incommensurate Spin Fluctuations in the Spin-triplet Superconductor Candidate UTe2

ORAL

Abstract

Spin-triplet superconductors are of extensive current interest because they can host topological state and Majorana ferimons important for quantum computation. The uranium based heavy-fermion superconductor UTe2 has been argued as a spin-triplet superconductor similar to UGe2, URhGe, and UCoGe, where the superconducting phase is near (or coexists with) a ferromagnetic (FM) instability and spin-triplet electron pairing is driven by FM spin fluctuations. Here we use neutron scattering to show that although UTe2 exhibits no static magnetic order down to 0.3 K, its magnetism in the (0 K L) plane is dominated by incommensurate spin fluctuations near antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering wave vector and extends to at least 2.6 meV. We are able to understand the dominant incommensurate spin fluctuations of UTe2 in terms of its electronic structure calculated using a combined density functional and dynamic mean field theory.

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Presenters

  • Chunruo Duan

    Rice University

Authors

  • Chunruo Duan

    Rice University

  • Kalyan Sasmal

    Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, University of California, San Diego

  • Jian-Xin Zhu

    Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Division/Center for Integrated Nanotechnology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Division and Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Lab, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Andrey Podlesnyak

    Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennesse, Oak Ridge National Lab

  • M Brian Maple

    Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, University of California, San Diego, Physics, Univ. of California, San Diego

  • Qimiao Si

    Rice Univ, Physics and Astronomy, Rice university, Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA

  • Pengcheng Dai

    Rice Univ, Rice University, Department of Physics and astronomy, Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University