The material UTe2 exhibits multiple forms of zero electrical resistance—a phenomenon known as superconductivity—and displays several puzzling properties. After UTe2 loses its superconductivity at a certain magnetic field, it becomes superconducting again under much higher fields.
Using a new high‑field measurement technique, researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have explained this unusual superconducting behavior in a paper in Nature Communications ("Giant transverse magnetic fluctuations at the edge of re-entrant superconductivity in UTe2"). Their method is now being adopted at high‑field laboratories worldwide.
Quantum materials exhibit exotic properties that make them relevant for next-generation technologies. While some scientists researching quantum materials seek to uncover specific properties for targeted applications, such as quantum computing, other researchers are curiosity-driven, searching for knowledge that hasn’t yet appeared in textbooks. Such knowledge can take years or even decades to apply, but the process of discovery and understanding yields its own rewards.
One material that has tested scientists’ textbook understanding is uranium ditelluride, which was discovered in 2019. Uranium ditelluride, also known as UTe2, is a superconductor—a material that allows electric current to flow without any resistance. However, not all superconductors are the same: some, like UTe2, are called “unconventional superconductors”. But even among these, UTe2 seems to belong to a category of its own, with a hidden zero-resistance state that appears at extremely high magnetic fields after the material loses its original superconductivity at lower fields.
“It seems like each measurement on UTe2 uncovers yet another mystery. Our work now presents evidence for the mechanism behind some of these mysteries,” says Kimberly Modic, assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Within her group, PhD student Valeska Zambra has led the development of a new method to probe UTe2’s puzzling behavior, which has struck the interest of high-field scientists around the world.
To read more, click here.