May 13, 2023
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
Tohoku
University
New superconductive state: Discovery in super-pure single crystal of uranium superconductor
- Superconductivity changing its characteristics depending on magnetic field -
- [Summary of announcement]
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- Uranium telluride (Chemical formula: UTe2), one of uranium compounds, is a candidate material of new-type superconductor called topological superconductor.
- When a magnetic field is applied from zero field, the low-field superconducting state is destroyed and a superconducting transition temperature drops. Conversely, when a magnetic field of 15 tesla or higher is applied, a superconducting transition temperature rises to stabilize the high-field superconducting state. However, the mechanism of transition from the low-field superconducting state to the high-field superconducting state depending on magnetic field has been unknown.
- Last year, we developed a method of cultivating super-pure single crystals of UTe2 which improve the superconducting performance significantly. We investigated the superconducting property precisely using the single crystals, whose superconducting transition temperature has improved by changing magnetic fields and temperatures. As a result, it was discovered that, between the low-field superconducting state and the high-field superconducting state, there exists a new superconducting state in which the two states are mixed.
- It is expected that the discovery of a method of controlling various superconducting states, such as low-field, high-field, and mixed superconducting sates, will lead to the development of new superconducting quantum devices for next-generation quantum computers results.
- [Information on article]
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Name of journal: Physical Review Letter (2023) Title of article: Field-induced multiple superconducting phases in UTe2 along hard magnetic axis Names of authors: H. Sakai, Y. Tokiwa, P. Opletal, M. Kimata, S. Awaji, T. Sasaki, D. Aoki, S. Kambe, Y. Tokunaga, and Y. Haga