Manipulating the nematic director by magnetic fields in the spin-triplet superconducting state of CuxBi2Se3

Abstract

Electronic nematicity, a consequence of rotational symmetry breaking, is an emergent phenomenon in various new materials. In order to fully utilize the functions of these materials, ability of tuning them through a knob, the nematic director, is desired. Here we report a successful manipulation of the nematic director, the vector order-parameter (d-vector), in the spin-triplet superconducting state of CuxBi2Se3 by magnetic fields. At H = 0.5 T, the ac susceptibility related to the upper critical field shows a two-fold symmetry in the basal plane. At H = 1.5 T, however, the susceptibility shows a six-fold symmetry, which has never been reported before in any superconductor. These results indicate that the d-vector initially pinned to a certain direction is unlocked by a threshold field to respect the trigonal crystal symmetry. We further reveal that the superconducting gap in different crystals converges to p_x symmetry at high fields, although it differs at low fields.