Science Daily December 22, 2021
Spin-triplet pairing is important because it can host topological states and majorana fermions relevant for quantum computation. Because spin-triplet pairing is usually mediated by ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations, uranium-based materials near an FM instability are ideal candidates for realizing spin-triplet superconductivity. UTe2 has been identified as a candidate for a chiral spin-triplet topological superconductor near an FM instability, although it also has antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations. A team of researchers in the US (Rice University, Florida State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, UC San Diego, Arizona State University) used inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to show that superconductivity in UTe2 is coupled to a sharp magnetic excitation. Because the resonance has only been found in spin-singlet unconventional superconductors near an AF instability its observation in UTe2 suggests that AF spin fluctuations may also induce spin-triplet pairing or that electron pairing in UTe2 has a spin-singlet component…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
The wavevector and energy dependence of the scattering below and above Tc Credit: Nature volume 600, pages636–640 (2021)Â