Structural transition and uranium valence change in UTe$_2$ at high pressure revealed by x-ray diffraction and spectroscopy

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Deng, Yuhang, Lee-Wong, Eric, Moir, Camilla M., Kumar, Ravhi S., Swedan, Nathan, Park, Changyong, Popov, Dmitry Yu, Xiao, Yuming, Chow, Paul, Baumbach, Ryan E., Hemley, Russell J., Maple, M. Brian
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Deng, Yuhang
Lee-Wong, Eric
Moir, Camilla M.
Kumar, Ravhi S.
Swedan, Nathan
Park, Changyong
Popov, Dmitry Yu
Xiao, Yuming
Chow, Paul
Baumbach, Ryan E.
Hemley, Russell J.
Maple, M. Brian
author_facet Deng, Yuhang
Lee-Wong, Eric
Moir, Camilla M.
Kumar, Ravhi S.
Swedan, Nathan
Park, Changyong
Popov, Dmitry Yu
Xiao, Yuming
Chow, Paul
Baumbach, Ryan E.
Hemley, Russell J.
Maple, M. Brian
contents High pressure x-ray diffraction up to 30 GPa and resonant emission x-ray spectroscopy and partial fluorescence yield x-ray absorption spectroscopy up to 52 GPa were used to study how the structural and electronic properties of UTe$_2$ evolve with pressure at room temperature. An orthorhombic to tetragonal phase transition was observed to occur between 5 and 7 GPa, with a large volume collapse of nearly 11% and a nearest U-U distance increase by about 4%. This lower to higher symmetry transition suggests less 5f electron participation in bonding when the weakly correlated superconducting phase in the tetragonal structure of UTe$_2$ appears. Beyond 7 GPa, no new structural transitions were found up to 30 GPa. The resonant x-ray emission spectra clearly demonstrate an intermediate valence of U, nearly +3.74 at 1.8 GPa and room temperature, and reveal that the U valence shifts towards 4+, passes through a peak at 2.8 GPa, and then decreases towards 3+ and settles down to a nearly constant value above 15 GPa. These experiments reveal that some fundamental structural and valence changes occur in UTe2 at relatively low pressures, which could be responsible for the interplay between unconventional superconductivity, magnetic ordering, and weakly correlated superconductivity that is manifested in the temperature-pressure phase diagram of UTe2.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_05586
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Structural transition and uranium valence change in UTe$_2$ at high pressure revealed by x-ray diffraction and spectroscopy
Deng, Yuhang
Lee-Wong, Eric
Moir, Camilla M.
Kumar, Ravhi S.
Swedan, Nathan
Park, Changyong
Popov, Dmitry Yu
Xiao, Yuming
Chow, Paul
Baumbach, Ryan E.
Hemley, Russell J.
Maple, M. Brian
Strongly Correlated Electrons
High pressure x-ray diffraction up to 30 GPa and resonant emission x-ray spectroscopy and partial fluorescence yield x-ray absorption spectroscopy up to 52 GPa were used to study how the structural and electronic properties of UTe$_2$ evolve with pressure at room temperature. An orthorhombic to tetragonal phase transition was observed to occur between 5 and 7 GPa, with a large volume collapse of nearly 11% and a nearest U-U distance increase by about 4%. This lower to higher symmetry transition suggests less 5f electron participation in bonding when the weakly correlated superconducting phase in the tetragonal structure of UTe$_2$ appears. Beyond 7 GPa, no new structural transitions were found up to 30 GPa. The resonant x-ray emission spectra clearly demonstrate an intermediate valence of U, nearly +3.74 at 1.8 GPa and room temperature, and reveal that the U valence shifts towards 4+, passes through a peak at 2.8 GPa, and then decreases towards 3+ and settles down to a nearly constant value above 15 GPa. These experiments reveal that some fundamental structural and valence changes occur in UTe2 at relatively low pressures, which could be responsible for the interplay between unconventional superconductivity, magnetic ordering, and weakly correlated superconductivity that is manifested in the temperature-pressure phase diagram of UTe2.
title Structural transition and uranium valence change in UTe$_2$ at high pressure revealed by x-ray diffraction and spectroscopy
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05586