Superconducting UBe13 thin films

✍ Scribed by J.H. Quateman; P.M. Tedrow

• Book ID: 103888951
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1985
• Weight: 156 KB
• Volume: 135
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-4363
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-4363(85)90456-5

✦ Synopsis

Of the known heavy fermion superconductors only UB%3 can have a low resistivity ratio and still go superconducting. In addition, it is a line compound with a melting temperature of nearly twice that of the constituents. These facts make UBe~3 a promising choice for fabrication in thin film form. We have successfully made 2000 A, UBe13 films by coevaporation of uranium and beryllium on 700°C substrates which were then heated in situ to ll00°C. These films were polycrystalline as shown by X-ray diffraction and have Tc's of 0.85 K, that of the bulk. The resistivity rise at approximately 2 K and the strong negative magnetoresistance were also of the same magnitude as that of the bulk, as were both the perpendicular and parallel critical fields. Thin films of UBe~3 will make more accessible tunneling and proximity effect experiments which can help elucidate the nature of the superconductivity of this compound.