A study on the microwave responses of YBCO and TBCCO thin films by coplanar resonator technique

YBa₂Cu₃O₇(YBCO) thin films have been prepared by thermal coevaporation on LaAlO₃(LAO) substrates, and Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O₈(TBCCO) thin films are synthesized by magnetron sputtering method on LAO substrates. The transition temperature T_c is 90\,K for YBCO/LAO and 104\,K for TBCCO/LAO. Microwave responses of the films are studied systematically by coplanar resonator technique. Energy gaps of the films obtained are {\it\Delta}₀=1.04k_BT_c for YBCO films and ${\it\Delta}_0=0.84k_BT_c for TBCCO films by analysing the temperature dependence of resonant frequencies of coplanar resonator. Penetration depth at 0\,K \lambda ₀=198nm for YBCO films and \lambda₀ =200nm for TBCCO films could also be obtained by using the weak coupling theory and two fluid theory. Results of penetration depth and energy gap confirm the weak coupling properties of the films. In addition, microwave surface resistances R_s of YBCO/LAO and TBCCO/LAO are also investigated by analysing the quality factor and insert loss of the coplanar resonator. Surface resistance of TBCCO/LAO is less than that of YBCO/LAO, so that TBCCO/LAO films may have more potential applications.     

The dc magnetic field,temperature and film thickness dependence of microwave surface resistance of YBCO and DyBCO thin films

We investigated the dc magnetic field and temperature dependences of the microwave surface resistance (R_s) of YBa₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO) and DyBa₂Cu₃O_y (DyBCO) superconducting thin films. The YBCO and DyBCO thin films, each with a thickness of 300, 500, or 700 nm, were deposited on MgO (1 0 0) substrates by the thermal co-evaporation method. The R_s was measured using the dielectric resonator method. A dc magnetic field of up to 5.0 T was applied parallel to the c-axis of the superconducting thin films. The results showed that the R_s value had almost the same temperature dependence at various thicknesses in a zero-external field. The R_s of the YBCO and DyBCO thin films increased with the applied dc magnetic field. The DyBCO thin films showed weaker magnetic field dependence of R_s than the YBCO thin films. The R_s ratio (defined as R_s(5 T)/R_s(0 T)) linearly increased with the film thickness. These results show that pinning strength decreased with an increasing film thickness.     

Effect of La2Zr2O7-buffered YSZ substrate on YBa2Cu3Oy thin films by chemical solution deposition

Epitaxial YBa₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO) thin films have been fabricated by chemical solution deposition (CSD) on La₂Zr₂O₇-buffered YSZ single crystal substrate, where the buffer layer has three kinds of morphology – flat surface, rough surface and pore surface. The effect of LZO buffer layer’s roughness on the YBCO films was evaluated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and temperature-dependent resistivity measurements. The flat surface of LZO layer is beneficial to highly epitaxial YBCO films and high critical current density.     

YBa2Cu3O7-δ/LaAlO3和Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8/LaAlO3高温超导薄膜内的应变对其微波表面电阻影响的研究

YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ/LaAlO₃ (YBCO/LAO) 超导薄膜是通过热蒸发沉积方法制备的,实验中使用的Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O₈/LaAlO₃ (TBCCO/LAO) 超导薄膜是通过直流磁控溅射方法制备的.通过分析两片超导薄膜的XRD谱计算出了两片超导薄膜内的应变,ΔC_{关键词： YBCO/LAO TBCCO/LAO 超导薄膜 应变 表面电阻}     

Epitaxial growth of YSZ buffer layer for YBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductor by reel-to-reel pulsed laser deposition

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layers were deposited on CeO₂ buffered biaxially textured Ni-W substrate by reel-to-reel pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for the application of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) coated conductor and the influence of substrate temperature and laser energy on their crystallinity and microstructure were studied. YSZ thin films were prepared with substrate temperature ranging from 600 to 800 °C and laser energy ranging from 120 to 350 mJ. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to investigate how thin film structure and surface morphology depend on these parameters. It was found that the YSZ films grown at substrate temperature below 600 °C or laser energy above 300 mJ showed amorphous phase, the (0 0 1) preferred orientation and the crystallinity of the YSZ films were improved with increasing the temperature, but the surface roughness increased simultaneously, the SEM images of YSZ films on CeO₂/NiW tapes showed surface morphologies without micro-cracks. Based on these results, we developed the epitaxial PLD-YSZ buffer layer process at the tape transfer speed of 3-4 m/h by the reel-to-reel system for 100 m class long YBCO tapes.     

Strain evolution and morphological transition of magnetron-sputtered CeO2 thin films induced by deposition parameters

Cerium dioxide (CeO₂) films were fabricated on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single crystals using unbalanced radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed film strain discrepancies under different deposition parameters. Strain evolution was induced by varying sputtering pressure, RF power, and sputtering gas. A distinct morphological transition from a granular surface to an interwoven surface was also realized by varying the above parameters. On the basis of the “atomic peening” mechanism, the influence of different parameters on film strain was discussed. The film surface characteristics were revealed to be highly correlated with film strain. YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) films were post-deposited on the as-grown CeO₂/YSZ(001) stack by using the trifluoroacetate metal-organic deposition (TFA-MOD) method. The superconducting property of the YBCO layer varied significantly with the morphology of the CeO₂ buffer films.     

c-Axis orientation control of YBa2Cu3O7−x films grown on inclined-substrate-deposited MgO-buffered metallic substrates

Biaxially textured YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x (YBCO) films were grown on non-textured metal substrates with inclined-substrate-deposited (ISD) MgO as template. The biaxial texture feature of the films was examined by X-ray pole-figure analysis, φ-scan, and 2θ-scan. A tilt angle of 32° of the MgO[001] with respect to the substrate normal was observed. Epitaxial growth of YBCO films with c-axis tilt angle of 32° with respect to the substrate normal was obtained on these substrates with SrTiO₃(STO) as buffer layer. Whereas, by choosing yttria-stabilized ZrO₂ and CeO₂ instead of STO as buffer layer, a c-axis untilted YBCO film was obtained. Higher values of T_c=91 K and J_c=5.5×10⁵ A/cm² were obtained on the c-axis untilted YBCO films with 0.46 μm thickness at 77 K in zero field. Comparative studies revealed a unique role of CeO₂ in controlling the orientation of the YBCO films grown on ISD-MgO buffered metal substrates.     

Microstructure, hardness, and electrical behavior of Y-doped CaZrO3 films prepared by chemical solution deposition

CaZr_0.9Y_0.1O_3???δ films were fabricated by chemical solution deposition on single-crystalline YSZ (ZrO₂ doped by 10 mol% of Y₂O₃) substrates. Mechanical hardness and morphology of the films were studied using nano-indentation and atomic force microscopy techniques. Grain microstructure of the films has been shown to depend upon thermal treatment duration and film thickness. Thin films with grains a few times greater than the film thickness have been obtained. It has been shown that thickness of films can be evaluated by comparing of the indentation curves for the clean and coated by the film substrates. Mechanical hardness of the film has been found to be sensitive to the film grain microstructure. Electrical behavior of CaZr_0.9Y_0.1O_3???δ films studied by impedance spectroscopy strongly depends on the film microstructure.     

The effect of BZO doping concentration and thickness dependent properties of YBCO films grown by PLD on buffered NiW substrates

The effect of BaZrO₃ (BZO) doping is systematically studied in YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x (YBCO) thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on buffered NiW substrates. Based on the structural and magnetic properties, the optimal BZO doping concentration is obtained to vary between 4 and 7.5 wt.%, depending mainly on applied magnetic field. This relatively high optimal concentration is linked to the nanograined target material and metal substrate that cause low-angle grain-boundaries and in-plane spread of YBCO crystals on NiW. Thickness dependent analysis of undoped and BZO-doped YBCO films predicts differences in growth mechanisms where early growth next to the substrate interface is 2D-type in BZO-doped films. This leads to the situation where crystallographic structure as well as superconducting properties are improved when the film develops and the thickness is increased. Therefore from the resistivity measurements a threshold thicknesses where reasonable properties occur are determined for both set of films. Measurements in thermally activated flux-flow regime (TAFF) indicate that above the threshold thickness relatively strong and isotropic vortex pinning is realized in BZO-doped YBCO films. Generally, this paper demonstrates that especially for thin film applications on NiW substrates even more compatible buffer layer structures should be utilized.     

Research on CeO2 cap layer for YBCO-coated conductor

Two groups of coated conductor samples with different thicknesses of CeO2 cap layers deposited by pulsed laser deposition （PLD） under the same conditions have been studied. Of them, one group is of CeO2 films, which are deposited on stainless steel （SS） tapes coated by IBAD-YSZ （IBAD-YSZ/SS）, and the other group is of CeO2/YSZ/Y2O3 multilayers, which are deposited on NiW substrates by PLD for the fabrication of YBCO-coated conductor through the RABiTS approach. YBCO film is then deposited on the tops of both types of buffer layers by PLD. The effects of the thickness of the CeO2 film on the texture of the CeO2 film and the critical current density （Jc） of the YBCO film are analysed. For the case of CeO2 film on IBAD-YSZ/SS, there appears a self-epitaxy effect with increasing thickness of the CeO2 film. For CeO2/YSZ/Y2O3/NiW, in which the buffer layers are deposited by PLD, there occurs no self-epitaxy effect, and the optimal thickness of CeO2 is about 50 nm. The surface morphologies of the two groups of samples are examined by SEM.     

A comparative study of YBa2Cu3O7-δ/YSZ bilayer films deposited on silicon-on-insulator substrates with and without HF pretreatment

Highly epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) bilayer thin films have been deposited on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates by using in situ pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. In the experiment, the native amorphous SiO2 layers on some of the SOI substrates are removed by dipping them in a 10% HF solution for 15 s. Comparing several qualities of films grown on substrates with or without HF pretreatment, such as thin film crystallinity, general surface roughness, temperature dependence of resistance, surface morphology, as well as average crack spacing and crack width, naturally leads to the conclusion that preserving the native SiO2 layer on the surface of the SOI substrate can not only simplify the experimental process but can also achieve fairly high quality YSZ and YBCO thin films.     

YBCO films buffered by pyrochlore Nd2Mo2O7 layer on YSZ substrates by chemical solution deposition

A chemical solution deposition process was used to grow epitaxial Nd₂Mo₂O₇ (NMO) buffer layers on YSZ substrates to produce YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (YBCO) coated conductors. The NMO precursor solution prepared using metal acetylacetonates was spin-coated onto single crystal YSZ substrate of 10 mm × 10 mm in size at 3000 rpm for 30 s and heat-treated at 1000 °C for 2 h in Ar after calcinated at 550 °C for 1 h. The YBCO film was deposited by TFA-MOD route on top of the NMO/YSZ architecture. The phase purity and the crystalline orientation of NMO and YBCO films were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to observe their microstructure and their surface roughness. The critical current density (J_c) of YBCO film on NMO/YSZ is 1.8 MA/cm² at 77 K in self-field, which indicates that the Nd₂Mo₂O₇ is a potential buffer for YBCO coated conductor.     

PREPARATION OF a-AXIS ORIENTED YBa2Cu3Ox THIN FILMS

The a-axis oriented YBa₂Cu₃O_x(YBCO) thin films could be grown on (100) SrTiO₃(STO) substrates with STO buffer layers by dc and rf magnetron sputtering either by low-ering the deposition temperature, or by using a self-template technique. For the latter, the resistivity of the thin film at 290K along the substrate [001] direction is about four times larger than that in the [010] direction. The zero resistance temperatures T_c0 are 89 K in both directions. So high quality a-axis oriented YBCO thin films can be prepared by the self-template technique. Also the T_c0 increase monotonously with the reduction of the thickness of the YBCO seed layer.     

Effect of CeO2 buffer layer thickness on the structures and properties of YBCO coated conductors

Biaxially textured YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x (YBCO) films were grown on inclined-substrate-deposited (ISD) MgO-textured metal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. CeO₂ was deposited as a buffer layer prior to YBCO growth. CeO₂ layers of different thickness were prepared to evaluate the thickness dependence of the YBCO films. The biaxial alignment features of the films were examined by X-ray diffraction 2θ-scans, pole-figure, ?-scans and rocking curves of Ω angles. The significant influence of the CeO₂ thickness on the structure and properties of the YBCO films were demonstrated and the optimal thickness was found to be about 10 nm. High values of T_c = 91 K and J_c = 5.5 × 10⁵ A/cm² were obtained on YBCO films with optimal CeO₂ thickness at 77 K in zero field. The possible mechanisms responsible for the dependence of the structure and the properties of the YBCO films on the thickness of the CeO₂ buffer layers are discussed.     

LPE growth of PZNT film using superheating YBCO thin film as seed layer

A superheating YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO or Y123) thin film was applied as a seed layer to grow Pb[(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.91Ti_0.09]O₃ (PZNT) films by a liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) process. In the present work, the YBCO thin film underwent a growth temperature of 1050 °C, which was about 40 °C higher than its peritectic temperature. It is very interesting that the superheated YBCO seed film could be used to grow not only Nd_1+xBa_2-xCu₃O_7-δ (NBCO) films with similar compositions but also PZNT films with completely different compositions. The XRD analysis confirmed that the PZNT film grown on the YBCO seeded MgO substrate had a good epitaxial relationship of [100](001)_PZNT//[100](001)_YBCO//[100] (001)_MgO. Compared with the PZNT films directly grown on MgO substrates, the LPE PZNT film on YBCO/MgO presented a better surface morphology. It was found that the superheating YBCO seed film plays a crucial role for the LPE growth of PZNT in the process. Furthermore, the superheating mechanism was discussed in terms of thermodynamic theories as well. PACS 77.84.-s; 61.10.Nz; 68.37.Hk; 81.15.Lm; 82.45.Mp     

Different types of vortex pinning contribution to critical current density in YBa2Cu3O7−δ /YSZ quasi-multilayer

The quasi-multilayer films of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ /YSZ (YSZ denotes Yttria Stabilized Zirconia) are prepared by means of pulsed laser deposition (PLD), and a systematic study of the magnetic-field and temperature dependence of the critical current density J _c(H,T) for the YBCO/YSZ quasi-multilayer film is presented. Angular-dependent J _c(H,T) measurements have demonstrated that the growth control strategy is very effective in preventing the vortex motion at high fields and high temperatures. The temperature dependence of isotropic and anisotropic contribution to J _c is investigated in order to evaluate the strength of the defects. It is suggested that at high applied fields (such as 7 T), the pinning contribution of the YBCO/YSZ quasi-multilayer is dominated by the anisotropic disorders, while at intermediate-low fields (such as 1 and 3 T) the pinning contribution is determined by both isotropic and anisotropic disorders.     

Periodic step structure of clean and YBa2Cu3O7 − δ-covered vicinal SrTiO3(001) surfaces

We have studied the structure of a stable vicinal SrTiO₃(001) surface by UHV scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that the regular nanoscale step structure on the vicinal surface strongly influences the growth of c-axis-orientedYBa₂Cu₃O_{7 − δ} (YBCO) thin films. It generates an almost periodic surface structure of the YBCO films. This substrate-mediated control of the film growth is particularly important, because the resultant YBCO microstructure leads to an in-plane anisotropy of the transport properties in the high-temperature superconducting material.     

The growth and domain structure of YBa2Cu3Ox films on neodymium gallate substrates with a deviation of the normal to the surface from the [110] direction in NdGaO3

The growth, crystal structure, and electrophysical properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_x (YBCO) epitaxial films grown with and without a CeO₂ epitaxial sublayer on NdGaO₃ (NGO) substrates with the normal to the surface deviating from the [110] axis by 5° to 26.6° around the [001] axis are investigated. It is shown that the orientation of YBCO epitaxial films grown on such substrates is determined by the existence of symmetry-equivalent directions in the substrate and in the CeO₂ layer, as well as by the rate of film deposition. For a high deposition rate, YBCO films grow on the CeO₂ sublayer in the [001] orientation irrespective of the orientation of the substrate and the sublayer. It was found that when the angle of deviation of the substrate plane is from the (110) NGO plane, twinning of one or both twinning complexes in YBCO may be suppressed.     

Synthesis,structure, and electrochemical properties of epitaxial perovskite La0.8Sr0.2CoO3 film on YSZ substrate

Epitaxial films of the perovskite, La_0.8Sr_0.2CoO₃ (LSC), for SOFCs cathode were deposited on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single crystals by pulsed laser deposition method. The films were characterized by thin-film X-ray diffraction measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and ac impedance spectroscopy. The film orientations depend on the substrate planes. The LSC films on the YSZ (100) and (111) substrates showed the (110) orientation with different twin structures, while those on the YSZ (110) had (100) and (112) orientations. Surface morphology of the films also depends on the substrate orientations. These films showed different electrode properties depending on the orientations. The relationships between the properties, the film orientations, surface morphology, and lattice misfit are discussed.     

Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation: Structural, morphological characterization and laser induced damage threshold

Four kinds of Y₂O₃ stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ) thin films with different Y₂O₃ content have been prepared on BK7 substrates by electron-beam evaporation method. Structural properties and surface morphology of thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra and scanning probe microscope. Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) was determined. It was found that crystalline phase and microstructure of YSZ thin films was dependent on Y₂O₃ molar content. YSZ thin films changed from monoclinic phase to high temperature phase (tetragonal and cubic) with the increase of Y₂O₃ content. The LIDT of stabilized thin film is more than that of unstabilized thin films. The reason is that ZrO₂ material undergoes phase transition during the course of e-beam evaporation resulting in more numbers of defects compared to that of YSZ thin films. These defects act as absorptive center and the original breakdown points.