MICROSTRUCTURE-COMPOSITION-SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIPS IN EPITAXIAL TBCCO FILM GROWTH

THE PREPARATION OF EPITAXIAL TLBACACUO (TBCCO) FILMS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED ON ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF SUBSTRATES (LAA103 AND SRTIO3). THE FILMS PRODUCED HAVE BEEN OPTIMIZED PRIMARILY FOR MICROWAVE PERFORMANCE, AND A MORE SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF FILM PROPERTIES IS REQUIRED. THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE MICROSTRUCTURE-COMPOSITION-SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE GROWTH OF HIGH-QUALITY, EPITAXIAL TBCCO FILMS. IN ADDITION TO THIS ANALYSIS, THE MECHANISM FOR PREPARING LOW RESISTANCE METAL CONTACTS TO TBCCO IS BEING EXPLORED. TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) IS USED TO INVESTIGATE THE FILM MICROSTRUCTURE AND METAL-TBCCO INTERFACE. THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT ARE TO OPTIMIZE THE COMPOSITION OF THE TBCCO DEPOSIT TO PRODUCE A MORE HOMOGENEOUS FILM CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING HIGH QUALITY SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES EVEN AT THE NARROWEST LINEWIDTHS (<5 MUM), AND TO UNDERSTAND AND IMPROVE THE METAL-SUPERCONDUCTOR CONTACTS. IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY FILMS TO CONTROL THE KEY PROCESS VARIABLES, AND TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO VARY PARAMETERS FOR PROCESS OPTIMIZATION. OPTIMIZATION OF COMPOSITION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT NEXT STEP FOR IMPROVEMENT OF TBCCO FILMS TO MEET THE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED BY THE NEXT GENERATION OF SUPERCONDUCTING FILM APPLICATIONS.