Pair wave function symmetry in UTe2 from zero-energy surface state visualization

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gu, Qiangqiang; Wang, Shuqiu; Carroll, Joseph P.; Zhussupbekov, Kuanysh; Broyles, Christopher; Ran, Sheng; Butch, Nicholas P.; Horn, Jarryd A.; Saha, Shanta; Paglione, Johnpierre; Liu, Xiaolong; Davis, J. C. Seamus; Lee, Dung-Hai
• 署名单位: Cornell University; University of Oxford; University of Bristol; University College Cork; Washington University (WUSTL); University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) - USA; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR); University of Notre Dame; University of Notre Dame; Max Planck Society; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10708
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adk7219
• 发表日期: 2025-05-29
• 页码: 938-944
• 关键词: quasi-particle interference; density wave; superconductivity; gaps

摘要

Although nodal spin-triplet topological superconductivity appears probable in uranium ditelluride (UTe2), its superconductive order parameter Delta k remains unestablished. In theory, a distinctive identifier would be the existence of a superconductive topological surface band, which could facilitate zero-energy Andreev tunneling to an s-wave superconductor and also distinguish a chiral from a nonchiral Delta k through enhanced s-wave proximity. In this study, we used s-wave superconductive scan tips and detected intense zero-energy Andreev conductance at the UTe2 (0-11) termination surface. Imaging revealed subgap quasiparticle scattering interference signatures with a-axis orientation. The observed zero-energy Andreev peak splitting with enhanced s-wave proximity signifies that Delta k of UTe2 is a nonchiral state: B1u, B2u, or B3u. However, if the quasiparticle scattering along the a axis is internodal, then a nonchiral B3u state is the most consistent for UTe2.