Extreme Magnetic Field-Boosted Superconductivity

Abstract

Applied magnetic fields underlie exotic quantum states, such as the fractional quantum Hall effect and Bose-Einstein condensation of spin excitations. Superconductivity, however, is inherently antagonistic towards magnetic fields. Only in rare cases can these effects be mitigated over limited fields, leading to re-entrant superconductivity. Here, we report the coexistence of multiple high-field re-entrant superconducting phases in the spin-triplet superconductor UTe2. We observe superconductivity in the highest magnetic field range identified for any re-entrant superconductor, beyond 65 T. Although the stability of superconductivity in these high magnetic fields challenges current theoretical models, these extreme properties seem to reflect a new kind of exotic superconductivity rooted in magnetic fluctuations and boosted by a quantum dimensional crossover.

Department(s)

Physics

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant DMR-1610349

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1745-2481; 1745-2473

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2019 Nature Research, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Dec 2019

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