Comparison of Two Different Synthesis Methods of Single Crystals of Superconducting Uranium Ditelluride

Single crystal specimens of the actinide compound uranium ditelluride, UTe₂, are of great importance to the study and characterization of its dramatic unconventional superconductivity, believed to entail spin-triplet electron pairing. A variety in the superconducting properties of UTe₂ reported in the literature indicates that discrepancies between synthesis methods yield crystals with different superconducting properties, including the absence of superconductivity entirely. This protocol describes a process to synthesize crystals that exhibit superconductivity via chemical vapor transport, which has consistently exhibited a superconducting critical temperature of 1.6 K and a double transition indicative of a multi-component order parameter. This is compared to a second protocol that is used to synthesize crystals via the molten metal flux growth technique, which produces samples that are not bulk superconductors. Differences in the crystal properties are revealed through a comparison of structural, chemical, and electronic property measurements, showing that the most dramatic disparity occurs in the low-temperature electrical resistance of the samples.