Multiple superconducting phases and order-parameter evolution in pressurized UTe2

The recently discovered heavy-fermion spin-triplet superconductor candidate UTe2 provides a rich platform for unconventional pairing and topological phenomena. However, limited has been known about its superconducting order parameters and their evolution with control parameters, largely due to the lack of appropriate symmetry-sensitive detection methods. Here, we report comprehensive point-contact spectroscopy measurements of pressurized UTe2 on the (0 0 1) surface. The observation of Andreev bound states strongly suggests the presence of a pz component in the superconducting order parameters. Quantitative analysis based on an extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model unveils the superconducting order parameters with a finite odd-kz component (e.g., B2u or B3u) for both ambient and pressurized UTe2. Remarkably, the multiple superconducting phases can be distinguished by a single parameter 〈Δz〉/〈Δx(y)〉, the relative weight between the pz-wave and px(y)-wave pairings. These findings place stringent constraints on the pairing symmetry and provide essential spectroscopic signatures for distinguishing pressure-induced multiple superconducting phases in UTe2. Point-contact spectroscopy under pressure reveals Andreev bound states on UTe2’s (001) surface, indicating an odd-kz pz component of the superconducting order parameter. The relative weights of pz- and px/y-wave pairing distinguish its multiple pressure-tuned superconducting phases.

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Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-08-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77045-7
Primary Topic
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Multiple superconducting phases and order-parameter evolution in pressurized UTe2

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Nature Communications
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
article

Multiple superconducting phases and order-parameter evolution in pressurized UTe2

Huiqiu Yuan, A. Cabala, Yongkang Luo, Alexander G. Eaton, Michal Vališka, Xin Lu, Jia-Long Zhang, Wen Huang, Z. Wu, Gang Li, Hai Zeng, Yinina Ma, Jianlin Luo, Zhuolun Qiu, Kaixin Ye, Zihan Yang, Ning Li, Fengrui Shi, Jiawen Zhang, Shuo Zou, Kangjian Luo, Yan Zhang, Yanan Zhang, Binbin Zhang, Zhuo Wang, Weilong Qiu, Chaofan Zhang
article en

Abstract

The recently discovered heavy-fermion spin-triplet superconductor candidate UTe2 provides a rich platform for unconventional pairing and topological phenomena. However, limited has been known about its superconducting order parameters and their evolution with control parameters, largely due to the lack of appropriate symmetry-sensitive detection methods. Here, we report comprehensive point-contact spectroscopy measurements of pressurized UTe2 on the (0 0 1) surface. The observation of Andreev bound states strongly suggests the presence of a pz component in the superconducting order parameters. Quantitative analysis based on an extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model unveils the superconducting order parameters with a finite odd-kz component (e.g., B2u or B3u) for both ambient and pressurized UTe2. Remarkably, the multiple superconducting phases can be distinguished by a single parameter 〈Δz〉/〈Δx(y)〉, the relative weight between the pz-wave and px(y)-wave pairings. These findings place stringent constraints on the pairing symmetry and provide essential spectroscopic signatures for distinguishing pressure-induced multiple superconducting phases in UTe2. Point-contact spectroscopy under pressure reveals Andreev bound states on UTe2’s (001) surface, indicating an odd-kz pz component of the superconducting order parameter. The relative weights of pz- and px/y-wave pairing distinguish its multiple pressure-tuned superconducting phases.

Nature Communications
National University of Defense Technology (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Charles University (CZ), University of Cambridge (GB), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN), Institute of Physics (CN), National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN), Great Bay University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN), Zhejiang University (CN)
Henry Royce Institute, National Natural Science Foundation of China
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
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