ELECTRODEPOSITION OF YBACUO AND ERBACUO SUPERCONDUCTOR PRECURSOR FILMS

Precursor thin films of YBaCuO and ErBaCuO superconductor were produced by pulse plating from the dissolved nitrate salts of yttrium, barium, copper and erbium, barium, copper in dimethylformamide. The films were produced on zirconium as well as silver-coated SrTiO3 and CaTiO3. The electrodeposited films were heat treated in flowing O2. Film composition was determined by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Critical temperature transitions were determined by magnetic as well as resistivity measurements. Onset critical temperatures were measured up to 93 and 80 K for YBaCuO and ErBaCuO respectively. In resistivity measurements of YBaCuO on CaTiO3, a small step drop at approximately 240 K was observed. This drop in resistivity disappeared after one thermal cycle. Similar drops in resistivity above 200 K have been observed by other authors. Compared with potentiostatic and galvanostatic techniques, the use of pulse plating enhances nucleation and growth and results in uniform and homogeneous films.