Magnetic-field-tunable commensurate multi-q charge orders on UTe2 (011) surface

TL;DR

This study uncovers multiple field-tunable, commensurate charge orders on the UTe2 (011) surface, which coexist and are largely independent of superconductivity, challenging existing theories about their origin.

Contribution

The paper identifies new, strictly locked charge order wave vectors on UTe2 surface, revealing a family of multi-q COs that are tunable by magnetic field and independent of superconductivity.

Findings

Multiple new CO wave vectors are identified.

COs are locked to integer multiples of reciprocal lattice vectors.

COs coexist without significantly affecting bulk superconductivity.

Abstract

The heavy-fermion superconductor UTe2 has attracted intense interest as a candidate for spin-triplet pairing. Recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies have reported complex charge orders (COs) on its (011) surface, but their origin and relationship with superconductivity remain controversial. Here, by performing temperature-, magnetic field-, and sample-dependent STM measurements, we identify multiple new CO wave vectors beyond those previously reported. All these CO wave vectors are strictly locked to integer multiples of 1/14 and 1/4 of the reciprocal lattice vectors of the UTe2 (011) surface, and multiple of them coexist in real space, collectively revealing a family of field-tunable, commensurate multi-q COs. These COs exist within an energy range much larger than the superconducting energy scale, their emergence suppresses the density of states near EF, yet show negligible coupling to bulk superconductivity and magnetic vortices. Our findings strongly disfavor the Fermi surface nesting or primary pair-density-wave pictures, but are consistent with a surface parent spin order.