Spin-Orbit Coupling Induced Degeneracy in the Anisotropic Unconventional Superconductor UTe${}_2$

Abstract

The orthorhombic uranium dichalcogenide UTe${}_2$ displays superconductivity below 1.7 K, with the anomalous feature of retaining 50$\%$ of normal state (ungapped) carriers, according to heat capacity data from two groups. Incoherent transport that crosses over from above 50 K toward a low temperature, Kondo lattice Fermi liquid regime indicates strong magnetic fluctuations and the need to include correlation effects in theoretical modeling. We report density functional theory plus Hubbard U (DFT+U) results for UTe${}_2$ to provide a platform for modeling its unusual behavior, focusing on ferromagnetic (FM, time reversal breaking) long range correlations along the $\hat{a}$ axis as established by magnetization measurements and confirmed by our calculations. States near the Fermi level are dominated by the $j=\frac{5}{2}$ configuration, with the $j_z=\pm \frac{1}{2}$ sectors being effectively degenerate and half-filled. Unlike the small-gap insulating nonmagnetic electronic spectrum, the FM Fermi surfaces are large (strongly metallic) and display low dimensional features, reminiscent of the FM superconductor UGe${}_2$.

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Cited by in corpus (22)

• Unconventional Superconductivity in UTe2
• Insulator-metal transition and topological superconductivity in UTe2 from a first-principles calculation
• Low energy band structure and symmetries of UTe2 from angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy
• Periodic Anderson model for magnetism and superconductivity in UTe2
• Topological band and superconductivity in UTe${}_2$
• First Observation of de Haas-van Alphen Effect and Fermi Surfaces in Unconventional Superconductor UTe2
• Resonance from antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations for superconductivity in UTe${}_2$
• Field-induced tuning of the pairing state in a superconductor
• $c$-axis transport in UTe${}_2$: Evidence of Three Dimensional Conductivity Component
• Anapole superconductivity from $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric mixed-parity interband pairing
• Experimental consequences of Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces
• Slow Electronic Dynamics in the Paramagnetic State of UTe${}_2$
• UTe${}_2$: a nearly insulating half-filled $j=\frac{5}{2}$ $5f^3$ heavy fermion metal
• Theory of spin-polarized superconductors -- an analogue of superfluid ${}^3$He A-phase
• Non-unitary triplet superconductivity tuned by field-controlled magnetization --URhGe, UCoGe and UTe${}_2$--
• Spin triplet superconductivity driven by finite momentum spin fluctuations
• Possible Realization of Topological Crystalline Superconductivity with Time-Reversal Symmetry in UTe2
• Structure of the normal state and origin of Schottky anomaly in the correlated heavy fermion superconductor UTe2
• Intrinsic Anomalous Thermal Hall Effect in the Unconventional Superconductor UTe2
• Nodal superconducting gap structure and topological surface states of UTe${}_2$
• Nuclear spin relaxation rate of nonunitary Dirac and Weyl superconductors
• Metamagnetic transition in the two $f$ orbitals Kondo lattice model