Controlled creation of structural defects in the heavy fermion superconductor UPt3 and its influence on the superconducting properties

The superconducting properties of the heavy fermion UPt3 have been changed by irradiation with high energy electrons which creates point defects in a reproducible and controlled way. Measurements of the residual resistivity, critical temperature, upper critical field and thermal conductivity have been realized on these irradiated samples. The strong suppression of superconductivity with increasing defect concentration is in agreement with the theory of unconventional superconductivity. However, the thermal conductivity data contradicts the simple predictions derived from the most popular models (E1g and E2u) of the superconducting order parameter in UPt3