BEAM STEERING LASER ASSISTED DEPOSITION SYSTEM FOR HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTING THIN-FILM DEVICES

We present the design and construction of a beam steering laser-assisted deposition system (LAD) for high quality epitaxial YBaCuO superconducting thin film production suitable for commercial application. Deposition of single layer or multilayer YBaCuO superconducting thin film on large and complex surfaced substrate is now feasible. Expitaxial and polycrystaline films with onsets at 90 K having 6 K transition widths have been produced. Dome-shaped magnetic shield enclosures, microwave cavity resonant in the TM010 mode, and short dipole antennas have been fabricated. The advantages of the laser ablation deposition method [J.T. Cheung and D.T. Chueng, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 21, 182 (1982)] are its simplicity and cleanliness. Laser ablation deposition is a viable method to produce high quality thin film of the Tl-based compound [S.H. Liou and K.D. Aylesworth, Appl. Phys. Lett. 54, 760 (1989)] by using a small target in a sealed environment which is important in handling toxic material of a Tl-based compounds.