Search for Structural Modulations in UPt_3 Using Laue X-ray Diffraction

TL;DR

This study used high-sensitivity Laue X-ray diffraction to search for structural modulations in UPt_3 but found none, challenging previous TEM findings and impacting theories of its superconductivity.

Contribution

First high-sensitivity Laue diffraction study on UPt_3 that finds no structural modulations, contrasting prior TEM results.

Findings

No structural modulations detected in UPt_3

Results challenge previous TEM observations

Implications for symmetry-broken superconductivity theories

Abstract

Using synchrotron radiation-based Laue diffraction methods, we have searched for structural anomalies in a single-crystal whisker of the heavy fermion superconductor UPt_3. Our data cover a large volume of k-space with high sensitivity. We find no signs of the structural modulations seen in transmission electron microscopy studies of whiskers grown under identical conditions. Our result has consequences for theories of symmetry-broken superconductivity in this material.