Metamagnetic ripples in the UTe2 high magnetic field phase diagram

Zheyu Wu; Hanyi Chen; Mengmeng Long; Gangjian Jin; Huakun Zuo; Daniel Shaffer; Dmitry V. Chichinadze; Andrej Cabala; Vladimir Sechovsky; Michal Valiska; Zengwei Zhu; Gilbert G. Lonzarich; F. Malte Grosche; Alexander G. Eaton

arXiv · 2503.11362

Metamagnetic ripples in the UTe2 high magnetic field phase diagram

Zheyu Wu·Hanyi Chen·Mengmeng Long·Gangjian Jin·Huakun Zuo·Daniel Shaffer·Dmitry V. Chichinadze·Andrej Cabala·Vladimir Sechovsky·Michal Valiska·Zengwei Zhu·Gilbert G. Lonzarich·F. Malte Grosche·Alexander G. Eaton

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Abstract

The heavy fermion metamagnet uranium ditelluride possesses two distinct magnetic field--induced superconducting states. One of these superconductive phases resides at magnetic fields immediately below a first-order metamagnetic transition to a field--polarized paramagnetic state at a field strength $H_m$, while the other exists predominantly above $H_m$. However, little is known about the microscopic properties of this polarized paramagnetic state. Here we report pulsed magnetic field measurements tracking the evolution of $H_m$ for polar and azimuthal inclinations in the vicinity of the crystallographic $b-a$ plane. We uncover a region of the phase diagram at high fields $>$ 50 T with a ripple-like non-monotonic dependence of $H_m$ on the orientation of field. Within this ripple in the metamagnetic transition surface, $H_m$ exhibits an anomalous temperature dependence. Our results point towards the presence of complex magnetic interactions and possible magnetic sub-phases at high magnetic fields in UTe$_2$, which may have important implications for the manifestation of exotic field-induced superconductivity.

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Zheyu Wu, Hanyi Chen, Mengmeng Long, Gangjian Jin, Huakun Zuo, Daniel Shaffer, Dmitry V. Chichinadze, Andrej Cabala, Vladimir Sechovsky, Michal Valiska, Zengwei Zhu, Gilbert G. Lonzarich, F. Malte Grosche, Alexander G. Eaton. 2025-03-14. Metamagnetic ripples in the UTe2 high magnetic field phase diagram. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11362

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