The properties of co‐sputtered YBa2Cu3O7and CeO2thin films

Autor: L. H. Allen, E. J. Cukauskas
Rok vydání: 1996
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Applied Physics. 80:5843-5849
ISSN: 1089-7550
0021-8979
DOI: 10.1063/1.363577
Popis: We have investigated the morphology and superconducting properties of off‐axis co‐sputtered thin films of YBa2Cu3O7 and CeO2. The composite films were made with CeO2 concentrations up to approximately 43%. Morphology investigations using x‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy suggest that films with less than 29% CeO2 may consist of a distorted YBCO crystal structure with Ce being incorporated into the lattice. Films with more than 29% consist of a new material phase. T c and resistance ratio decreased with increasing CeO2 concentration. Degradation of T c after photoresist processing was observed for films with higher amounts of CeO2. However, this degradation was reversed and T c improved beyond that of the as‐deposited film by processing the films with an oxygen plasma etch. The temperature dependence of the critical current near T c showed two power law dependence regions with a crossover near 0.99 T c for films having low concentrations of CeO2. This crossover shifted to lower temperatures for films with higher amounts of CeO2. I c ’s were decreased by small applied magnetic fields, and for some samples response was observed which was greater than 0.5 mA/G and increased with decreasing temperature. For a sample having 26% CeO2, a 40% reduction in critical current for a 2 G applied field was observed. These magnetic field responses indicate that this material may be a promising candidate for the development of Josephson vortex flow devices.
Databáze: OpenAIRE