Low-temperature crystal structure of the unconventional spin-triplet superconductor UTe₂ from single-crystal neutron diffraction.

ABSTRACT: The crystal structure of a new superconductor UTe₂ has been investigated using single-crystal neutron diffraction for the first time at the low temperature (LT) of 2.7 K, just above the superconducting transition temperature of ∼1.6 K, in order to clarify whether the orthorhombic structure of type Immm (No. 71), reported for the room-temperature (RT) structure persists down to the superconducting phase and can be considered as a parent symmetry for the development of spin-triplet superconductivity. In contrast to the previously reported phase transition at about 100 K [Stöwe (1996). J. Solid State Chem. 127, 202-210], our high-precision LT neutron diffraction data show that the body-centred RT symmetry is indeed maintained down to 2.7 K. No sign of a structural change from RT do

SUBMITTER: Hutanu V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8202135 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature