Excimer laser patterning of superconducting BiSrCaCuO thin films

Micrometre-wide patterning of BiSrCaCuO (BSCCO) superconducting thin films has been successfully accomplished using a pulsed KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of lambda = 248 nm and a duration of 25 ns. Etch depth as a function of the number of laser pulses was almost linear over a wide range of incident laser energy densities. For example, a superconducting microstructure of BSCCO film, nominally 5 mu m wide and 2 mu m long, showed no degradation in T-c or J(c). The excimer laser patterning technique yields reproducible patterning without any degradation of superconducting properties. The etching bordering and surface morphology were examined using an atomic force microscope.