rf plasma aerosol deposition of superconductive Y1Ba2Cu3O7−δ films at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

Superconducting films of Y1Ba2Cu3O7−δ were produced by a radio frequency (rf) plasma aerosol evaporation technique at atmospheric pressure. Aqueous solutions of the ions were generated as an aerosol and the mist was injected into the plasma region, and then deposited onto substrates outside of both the plasma and flame regions. The substrate temperature was about 600 °C. The deposition rate is 0.01–100 μm/(min cm2) and the film thickness is 1–200 μm. For an ‘‘as-deposited’’ film on a single-crystalline MgO substrate (100), the onset temperature of the superconducting transition is 100 K, with a transition width (10–90%) of 3 K, and zero resistance at 91 K. For another film post annealed at 850±10 °C for 1 h, the onset temperature is 105 K, with a width of 6 K, and zero resistance at 91 K. Since this technique does not require a vacuum environment, it has potential for large scale production of thin films.