Uranium ditelluride explained

Uranium ditelluride is an inorganic compound with the formula UTe₂. It was discovered to be an unconventional superconductor in 2018.^[1]

Superconductivity

Superconductivity in UTe₂ appears to be a consequence of triplet electrons spin-pairing.^[2] The material acts as a topological superconductor, stably conducting electricity without resistance even in high magnetic fields.^[1] It has superconducting transition temperature at Tc= 2K.^[3]

Charge density waves (CDW)^[4] and pair density waves (PDW)^{[5] [6] [7]} have been described in UTe₂, with the latest case being the first time it has been described in a p-wave superconductor.

See also

• Distrontium ruthenate a p-wave triplet state superconductor candidate.
• Helium-3 a spin-triplet superfluid
• Ferromagnetic superconductor spin-triplet pairing with coexisting superconductivity and ferromagnetic phases.
• Reentrant superconductivity an effect similar to ferromagnetic superconductivity.

Notes and References

1. Anomalous normal fluid response in a chiral superconductor UTe2. Seokjin Bae. Hyunsoo Kim. Yun Suk Eo. Sheng Ran. I-lin Liu. Wesley T.. Fuhrman. Johnpierre. Paglione. Nicholas P.. Butch. Steven M.. Anlage. Nature Communications. 12. 2644. 2021. 1 . 10.1038/s41467-021-22906-6 . 33976162 . 8113495 . 2021NatCo..12.2644B .
   • 15 July 2021 . Unconventional superconductor acts the part of a promising quantum computing platform . EurekAlert!.
2. Extreme magnetic field-boosted superconductivity. Sheng Ran. I-Lin Liu. Yun Suk Eo. Daniel J.. Campbell. Paul M.. Neves. Wesley T.. Fuhrman. Shanta R.. Saha. Christopher. Eckberg. Hyunsoo Kim. David. Graf. Fedor. Balakirev. John. Singleton. Johnpierre. Paglione. Nicholas P.. Butch. Nature Physics. 15. 1250–1254. 2019. 12 . 10.1038/s41567-019-0670-x . 34131432 . 8201648 . 1905.04343 . 2019NatPh..15.1250R .
   • October 7, 2019 . SciTechDaily . 'Lazarus Superconductivity' Observed – Rare Phenomenon Called Re-Entrant Superconductivity.
3. Rosa . Priscila F. S. . Weiland . Ashley . Fender . Shannon S. . Scott . Brian L. . Ronning . Filip . Thompson . Joe D. . Bauer . Eric D. . Thomas . Sean M. . 2022-05-23 . Single thermodynamic transition at 2 K in superconducting UTe2 single crystals . Communications Materials . en . 3 . 1 . 33 . 10.1038/s43246-022-00254-2 . 248970170 . 2662-4443. 2110.06200 . 2022CoMat...3...33R .
4. Aishwarya . Anuva . May-Mann . Julian . Raghavan . Arjun . Nie . Laimei . Romanelli . Marisa . Ran . Sheng . Saha . Shanta R. . Paglione . Johnpierre . Butch . Nicholas P. . Fradkin . Eduardo . Madhavan . Vidya . June 2023 . Magnetic-field-sensitive charge density waves in the superconductor UTe2 . Nature . en . 618 . 7967 . 928–933 . 10.1038/s41586-023-06005-8 . 37380690 . 2207.09491 . 2023Natur.618..928A . 250698906 . 1476-4687.
5. Gu . Qiangqiang . Carroll . Joseph P. . Wang . Shuqiu . Ran . Sheng . Broyles . Christopher . Siddiquee . Hasan . Butch . Nicholas P. . Saha . Shanta R. . Paglione . Johnpierre . Davis . J. C. Séamus . Liu . Xiaolong . June 2023 . Detection of a pair density wave state in UTe2 . Nature . en . 618 . 7967 . 921–927 . 10.1038/s41586-023-05919-7 . 37380691 . 10307636 . 2209.10859 . 2023Natur.618..921G . 1476-4687.
6. Web site: Breakthrough identifies new state of topological quantum matter Cornell Chronicle . 2023-08-04 . news.cornell.edu . en.
7. Web site: 2023-08-03 . Topological superconductor harbours unusual crystalline state . 2023-08-03 . Physics World . en-GB.