Crystallographic imperfections and exotic superconductivity of UBe 13

The symmetry of the superconducting gap is related to the symmetry of the crystal structure. In unconventional superconductors, big changes in the critical temperature, critical field, or even the gap structure can happen even for small perturbations of the lattice. In this paper, we use microstructuring to study aluminum-free micro crystals of UBe13 which are expected to be closer to a "perfect" material than previously studied aluminum-grown single crystals. We compare the effect of minuscule imperfections on the value of the critical temperature and critical field, which, in the case of UBe13, has drastic effects, supporting its unconventional nature. We conjecture that this likely arises from the oxidation state of uranium, which is sensitive to its crystallographic environment. Our findings suggest that uranium-based materials provide not only an excellent reservoir of unconventional phenomena, but also a way to identify the gap symmetry of unconventional superconductors.

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Publication Details

Journal
KITopen
Published
2026-10-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5445/ir/1000198429
Primary Topic
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Crystallographic imperfections and exotic superconductivity of UBe 13

Ulrich Burkhardt, Elena Gati, Alfred Amon, Nazar Zaremba et al.
KITopen
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
article

Crystallographic imperfections and exotic superconductivity of UBe 13

Ulrich Burkhardt, Elena Gati, Alfred Amon, Nazar Zaremba, Eteri Svanidze, Andreas Leithe‐Jasper, Matthias Vojta C, Elena Hassinger, Thomas Doert, Wilder German Carrillo‐Cabrera, Marcel Naumann, Yurii M. Prots', Mitja Krnel, Primoz Koželj, Konstantin Semeniuk, Markus Koenig, Paul Simon, Yuri Grin, Yusei Shimizu
article en

Abstract

The symmetry of the superconducting gap is related to the symmetry of the crystal structure. In unconventional superconductors, big changes in the critical temperature, critical field, or even the gap structure can happen even for small perturbations of the lattice. In this paper, we use microstructuring to study aluminum-free micro crystals of UBe13 which are expected to be closer to a "perfect" material than previously studied aluminum-grown single crystals. We compare the effect of minuscule imperfections on the value of the critical temperature and critical field, which, in the case of UBe13, has drastic effects, supporting its unconventional nature. We conjecture that this likely arises from the oxidation state of uranium, which is sensitive to its crystallographic environment. Our findings suggest that uranium-based materials provide not only an excellent reservoir of unconventional phenomena, but also a way to identify the gap symmetry of unconventional superconductors.

KITopen
Openalex Percentile: Top 23%
Rare-earth and actinide compounds
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