Journal
ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION B-STRUCTURAL SCIENCE CRYSTAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS
Volume 76, Issue -, Pages 137-143Publisher
INT UNION CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
DOI: 10.1107/S2052520619016950
Keywords
crystal structure; single-crystal neutron diffraction; phase transition; unconventional superconductivity; magnetic order; UTe2
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Funding
- Schmidt Science Fellows program
- Rhodes Trust
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The crystal structure of a new superconductor UTe2 has been investigated using single-crystal neutron diffraction for the first time at the low temperature (LT) of 2.7 K, just above the superconducting transition temperature of similar to 1.6 K, in order to clarify whether the orthorhombic structure of type Immm (No. 71), reported for the room-temperature (RT) structure persists down to the superconducting phase and can be considered as a parent symmetry for the development of spin-triplet superconductivity. In contrast to the previously reported phase transition at about 100 K [Stowe (1996). J. Solid State Chem. 127, 202-210], our high-precision LT neutron diffraction data show that the bodycentred RT symmetry is indeed maintained down to 2.7 K. No sign of a structural change from RT down to 2.7 K was observed. The most significant change depending on temperature was observed for the U ion position and the U-U distance along the c direction, implying its potential importance as a magnetic interaction path. No magnetic order could be deduced from the neutron diffraction data refinement at 2.7 K, consistent with bulk magnetometry. Assuming normal thermal evolution of the lattice parameters, moderately large linear thermal expansion coefficients of about alpha = 2.8 (7) x 10(-5) K-1 are estimated.
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