In-Situ Diagnostics at High Pressures: Ellipsometric and Rheed Studies of the Growth of Yba2Cu3O7

Abstract

ABSTRACTPulsed Laser and Sputter Deposition are used for the fabrication of complex oxide thin films at relatively high oxygen pressures (up to 0.5 mBar). This high pressure hampers the application of a number of in-situ diagnostic tools. One of the exceptions is ellipsometry. Using this technique we studied in-situ the growth of off-axis sputtered Yba2Cu3O6+x thin films on (001) SrTiO3 as a function of the deposition parameters. Furthermore, the oxidation process from O(6) to O(7) has been studied by performing spectroscopic ellipsometry during isobaric cooling procedures.Another suitable in-situ monitoring technique for the growth of thin films is Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED). In general this is a (high) vacuum technique. Here, we present an RHEED-system in which we can observe clear diffraction patterns up to a deposition pressure of 0.5 mBar. The system has been used for in-situ monitoring of the heteroepitaxial growth of YBa2Cu3 06+x on SrTiO3 by pulsed laser deposition.