PC1-1-INV

Observation of vortex stripes in UTe2

9:45-10:15 Dec.3

*Yihua Wang1, Tom Winyard2, Sheng Ran3, Daniel Agterberg4, Egor Babaev5, Hongxu Yao1, Christopher Broyles6, Shannon Gould6
Fudan University1
University of Edinburgh2
Washington University in St. Louis3
University of Wisconsin System4
Royal Institute of Technology5
Washington University in St. Louis6
Abstract Body

Quantum vortices are fundamentally important for properties of superconductors. In conventional type-II superconductor they determine the magnetic response of the system and tend to form regular lattices. UTe2 is a recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor exhibiting many anomalous macroscopic behaviors. However, the question whether it has a multicomponent order parameter remains open. Here, we study magnetic properties of UTe2 by employing scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy. We find vortex behavior which is very different from that in ordinary superconductors. We imaged vortices generated by cooling in magnetic field applied along different crystalline directions. While a small out-of-plane magnetic field produces typical isolated vortices, higher field generates vortex stripe patterns which evolve with vortex density. The stripes form at different locations and along different directions in the surface plane when the vortices are crystalized along the crystalline b or c axes. The behavior is reproduced by our simulation based on an anisotropic two-component order parameter. This study shows that UTe2 has a nontrivial disparity of multiple length scales, placing constraints on multicomponent superconductivity. The tendency of vortex stripe formation and their control by external field may be useful in fluxonics applications.