Nearly ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductivity

Abstract

An unusual superconductor In conventional, and in many unconventional, superconductors, the electrons that form Cooper pairs have spins pointing in opposite directions. An applied magnetic field can easily “break” such pairs—and destroy superconductivity—by aligning both spins in the same direction. In contrast, spin-triplet superconductors are much more resilient to magnetic fields. Very few candidates for such materials have been discovered. Ran et al. add to this select group by observing signatures of spin-triplet superconductivity, including a very large and anisotropic upper critical magnetic field, in the material UTe 2 . Because spin-triplet superconductors may naturally exhibit topological superconductivity, this material may also be of interest in quantum computing. Science , this issue p. 684