Spin-triplet superconductors are condensates of electron pairs with spin 1 and an odd-parity wavefunction¹. An interesting manifestation of triplet pairing is the chiral p-wave state, which is topologically non-trivial and provides a natural platform for realizing Majorana edge modes^2,3. However, triplet pairing is rare in solid-state systems and has not been unambiguously identified in any bulk compound so far. Given that pairing is usually mediated by ferromagnetic spin fluctuations, uranium-based heavy-fermion systems containing f-electron elements, which can harbour both strong correlations and magnetism, are considered ideal candidates for realizing spin-triplet superconductivity⁴. Here we present scanning tunnelling microscopy studies of the recently discovered heavy-fermion superconductor UTe₂, which has a superconducting transition temperature of 1.6 kelvin⁵. We find signatures of coexisting Kondo effect and superconductivity that show competing spatial modulations within one unit cell. Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy at step edges reveals signatures of chiral in-gap states, which have been predicted to exist at the boundaries of topological superconductors. Combined with existing data that indicate triplet pairing in UTe₂, the presence of chiral states suggests that UTe₂ is a strong candidate for chiral-triplet topological superconductivity.

自旋三重态超导体是具有自旋 1 和奇宇称波函数¹的电子对的凝聚体。三重态配对的一个有趣表现是手性p波状态，它在拓扑上是非平凡的，并为实现马约拉纳边缘模式^2,3提供了一个自然平台。然而，三重态配对在固态系统中很少见，迄今为止尚未在任何散装化合物中明确鉴定。鉴于配对通常由铁磁自旋涨落介导，含有f电子元素的铀基重费米子系统，可以同时具有强相关性和磁性，被认为是实现自旋三重态超导性的理想候选者⁴. 在这里，我们展示了最近发现的重费米子超导体 UTe _{2 的}扫描隧道显微镜研究，它的超导转变温度为 1.6 开尔文⁵。我们发现了共存的近藤效应和超导性的特征，这些特征在一个晶胞内显示出相互竞争的空间调制。台阶边缘的扫描隧道光谱揭示了手性间隙状态的特征，据预测，这些特征存在于拓扑超导体的边界。结合现有数据表明 UTe _{2 中的}三重态配对，手性状态的存在表明 UTe ₂是手性三重态拓扑超导性的有力候选者。