Above T_c melting and magnetic field suppression of charge density waves in proposed spin-triplet superconductor UTe₂

The need for a large critical field along a single crystalline direction in order to suppress superconductivity in the proposed spin-triplet superconductor UTe₂ motivated many studies into the field dependence of its electronic structure. Unusual behavior under a directionally dependent magnetic field established that the charge density wave (CDW) in this material may also be suppressed by the magnetic field. Here, we use spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy to decouple the nature of the CDW field dependence and the magnetic field dependence of the superconducting state, by probing the magnetic field dependence of the CDW above the superconducting critical temperature, Tc. Fourier-filtered, real-space conductance maps visualize CDW “puddles” which dissipate and re-emerge with varying temperature and magnetic field. This technique allows the decoupling of the charge modulations into three different wave vectors that gradually weaken in a spatially inhomogeneous manner, but persist to a surprisingly high temperature T_CDW ≈ 10-12 K. Interestingly, one of the density wave vectors along the mirror symmetry has a slightly different temperature onset. Our experiments highlight an intimate connection between hidden magnetic correlations and the origin of the unusual charge density waves in UTe₂.