  The search for topological superconductivity has motivated investigations
into materials that combine topological and superconducting properties. The
half-Heusler compound YPtBi appears to be such a material, however experiments
have thus far been limited to bulk single crystals, drastically limiting the
scope of available experiments. This has made it impossible to investigate the
potential topological nature of the superconductivity in this material.
Experiments to access details about the superconducting state require
sophisticated lithographic structures, typically based on thin films. Here we
report on the establishment of high crystalline quality epitaxial thin films of
YPtBi(111), grown using molecular beam epitaxy on Al2O3(0001) substrates. A
robust superconducting state is observed, with both critical temperature and
critical field consistent with that previously reported for bulk crystals.
Moreover we find that AlOx capping sufficiently protects the sample surface
from degradation to allow for proper lithography. Our results pave a path
towards the development of advanced lithographic structures, that will allow
the exploration of the potentially topological nature of superconductivity in
YPtBi.
