Growth of high-quality ErBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films

ErBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films are grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Using a SrTiO3 as a lattice matched substrate. In the film growth, the substrate temperature is varied from 720 to 780 degreesC. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, only the 00/ reflections from the ErBa2Cu3O7-delta films are observed. The average of the c-axis length of the other films is 11.6875 Angstrom. ErBa2Cu3O7-delta film grown at 735 degreesC is excellent in the crystallinity, while the intensity of 0 0 1 peaks of the film grown at more than 780 degreesC obviously weakened. The zero resistance T-c is 90.5 K. Superconducting transition width is 1.5 K. Large and flat grains are observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) at the surface of the film. From the scanning electron microscope (SEM) image, we confirmed some grains with the size of approximately 200 nm in diameter on the ErBa2Cu3O7-delta thin film. We observe the interface of ErBa2Cu3O7-delta, and substrate clearly by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.