Visualizing the melting of the charge density wave in UTe2 by generation of pairs of topological defects with opposite winding

Abstract

Topological defects are singularities in an ordered phase that can have a profound effect on phase transitions and serve as a window into the order parameter. In this work we use scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize the role of topological defects in the novel magnetic field induced disappearance of an intertwined charge density wave (CDW) in the heavy fermion superconductor, UTe2. By simultaneously imaging the amplitude and phase of the CDW order, we reveal pairs of topological defects with positive and negative phase winding. The pairs are directly correlated with a zero CDW amplitude and increase in number with increasing magnetic field. These observations can be captured by a Ginzburg Landau model of a uniform superconductor coexisting with a pair density wave. A magnetic field generates vortices of the superconducting and pair density wave order which can create topological defects in the CDW and induce the experimentally observed melting of the CDW at the upper critical field. Our work reveals the important role of magnetic field generated topological defects in the melting the CDW order parameter in UTe2 and provides support for the existence of a parent pair density wave order on the surface of UTe2.

29 Pages, includes manuscript and supplemental information, 4 Main figures and 8 Supplemental Figures

References in corpus (7)

• Theory of Intertwined Orders in High Temperature Superconductors
• Charge $4e$ superconductivity from pair density wave order in certain high temperature superconductors
• Dislocations and vortices in pair density wave superconductors
• Topological defects as relics of emergent continuous symmetry and Higgs condensation of disorder in ferroelectrics
• Detection of a Pair Density Wave State in UTe${}_2$
• Magnetic-field sensitive charge density wave orders in the superconducting phase of UTe2
• Identification of a Nematic Pair Density Wave State in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Absence of a Bulk Thermodynamic Phase Transition to a Density Wave Phase in UTe2
• Frustrated charge density wave and quasi-long-range bond-orientational order in the magnetic kagome FeGe
• Atomic-scale tracking of topological defect motion and incommensurate charge order melting
• Spectroscopic evidence of symmetry breaking in the superconducting vortices of UTe2
• Microscopic theory of pair density waves in spin-orbit coupled Kondo lattice
• Vestigial $d$-wave charge-$4e$ Superconductivity from Bidirectional Pair Density Waves
• Electronic structure of topological defects in the pair density wave superconductor
• Probing Quantum Geometric Phases via Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
• Emblems of pair density waves: dual identity of topological defects and their transport signatures
• Evidence of intertwined pair density and charge density wave orders in UTe2