LASER ANNEALING OF PLASMA PROCESSED HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS AND DEVICES

RECENT ADVANCES IN THE FORMULATION AND PROCESSING OF HIGH CRITICAL TEMPERATURE (HIGH TC) SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY OF PRODUCING COMPONENTS SUCH AS INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, SENSORS, SUPERCONDUCTING QUANTUM INTERFERENCE DEVICES (SQUID), MICROWAVE GENERATORS AND DETECTORS, MICROWAVE STRIP LINES, POWER TRANSFORMERS AND MOTORS CAPABLE OF OPERATION WITH LOW POWER LOSSES AT TEMPERATURES IN EXCESS OF 77K. ALTHOUGH INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE PHASE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTORS IN THE LA-BA-CU-O AND Y-BA-CU-O SYTEMS, THERE IS A NEED FOR AN INCREASED UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIME-TEMPERATURE-TRANSFORMATION PARAMETERS IN PLASMA PROCESSING AND SUBSEQUENT HEAT TREATMENT TO PRODUCE STRUCTURALLY-STABLE SUPERCONDUCTORS TO CARRY HIGH CRITICAL CURRENTS NECESSARY IN A WIDE RANGE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES. THIS PROPOSAL SUGGESTS THE USE OF LASER ANNEALING TECHNIQUESTO MODIFY THE STRUCTURE AND ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES OF PLASMA PROCESSED Y-BA-CU-O HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS. INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS INCLUDE THE USE OF RAPID SOLIDIFICATION FOR THE MODIFICATION OF FINE-GRAINED AND AMORPHOUS PHASES OF RARE EARTH COPPER OXIDES, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PLASMA PROCESSING AND LASER ANNEALING PARAMETERS FOR FABRICATION OF Y-BA-CU-O SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS AND THICK FILM DEVICES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR USING LASERS TO WRITE THIN, NONCONDUCTING REGIONS IN A SUPERCONDUCTING SUBSTRATE. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES SHOULD RESULT IN A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZATION AND EXTENSIVE TESTING DURING PHASE II OF THE PROGRAM.