Magnetic reshuffling and feedback on superconductivity in UTe2 under pressure

TL;DR

This study explores how pressure and magnetic fields influence superconductivity and magnetism in UTe₂, revealing complex interactions and phase transitions that are crucial for understanding its unconventional superconducting behavior.

Contribution

It provides detailed three-dimensional phase diagrams of UTe₂ under combined pressure and magnetic fields, highlighting the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity in this anisotropic heavy-fermion system.

Findings

Superconductivity is enhanced near critical pressure with magnetic field application.

Collapse of metamagnetic and critical fields correlates with effective mass increase.

Field-induced transitions suggest an antiferromagnetic phase beyond critical pressure.

Abstract

The discovery of superconductivity in the heavy-fermion paramagnet UTe$_2$ has attracted a lot of attention, particularly due to the reinforcement of superconductivity near pressure- and magnetic-field-induced magnetic quantum phase transitions. A challenge is now to characterize the effects of combined pressure and magnetic fields applied along variable directions in this strongly anisotropic paramagnet. Here, we present an investigation of the electrical resistivity of UTe$_2$ under pressure up to 3~GPa and pulsed magnetic fields up to 58~T along the hard magnetic crystallographic directions $\mathbf{b}$ and $\mathbf{c}$. We construct three-dimensional phase diagrams and show that, near the critical pressure, a field-enhancement of superconductivity coincides with a boost of the effective mass related to the collapse of metamagnetic and critical fields at the boundaries of the correlated paramagnetic regime and magnetically-ordered phase, respectively. Beyond the critical pressure, field-induced transitions precede the destruction of the magnetically-ordered phase, suggesting an antiferromagnetic nature. By bringing new elements about the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity, our work appeals for microscopic theories describing the anisotropic properties of UTe$_2$ under pressure and magnetic field.