Heteroepitaxial growth of chemically derived ex situ Ba2YCu3O7−x thin films

Abstract

Heteroepitaxial growth of Ba2YCu3O7−x (BYC) thin films prepared by postdeposition annealing on (001) LaAlO3 was characterized by TEM and x-ray diffraction studies of specimens rapidly cooled from various points in the growth heat treatment. Heteroepitaxial nucleation of BYC occurred between 720 and 770 °C during heating at 25 °C/min to the annealing temperature of 830 °C. The c-axis normal BYC rapidly coalesced into a continuous film with nearly complete coverage of the substrate surface after growth of a film of several unit cells thickness. The experimental results were not consistent with purely solid phase heteroepitaxial nucleation and growth or epitaxial grain growth, mechanisms for microstructural evolution of other chemically derived epitaxial oxide thin films. The nature of the transformation and the microstructure of the final superconducting films were consistent, instead, with growth of epitaxial BYC from a liquid phase that is present transiently during the anneal. This hypothesis was supported by thermal analysis results obtained from the precursor material of which the films are composed prior to transformation to BYC.