Preparation of thin films of the heavy fermion superconductor UNi2Al3

Abstract Thin films of the heavy fermion superconductor UNi 2 Al 3 were prepared by coevaporation of the elementary components in an MBE-system. We obtained textured (1 0 0)-oriented films of this hexagonal compound depositing on Al 2 O 3 substrates. Epitaxial growth was observed on (1 1 2)-oriented orthorhombical YAlO 3 substrates. However, due to pronounced strain the UNi 2 Al 3 (1 0 0)-axis is shortened by ≈2%. No superconductivity of the films was observed which can be associated with the high impurity concentration deduced from R ( T ) and XRD investigations.