The mechanism of sputter-induced orientation change in YBCO films on MgO (001)

Abstract

AbstractThe mechanisms of the sputter-induced orientation change in YBa2Cu3O7-x(YBCO) films grown on MgO (001) substrates by pulsed organometallic beam epitaxy (POMBE) are investigated by x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscatter spectroscopy (RBS), cross-section TEM (XTEM) and microanalysis. It is found that the W atom implantation concurring with the ion sputtering plays an important role in effecting the orientation change. This implantation changes the surface structure of the substrate and induces an intermediate layer in the initial growth of the YBCO film, which in turn acts as a template that induces the orientation change. It seems that the surface morphology change caused by ion sputtering has only a minor effect on the orientation change.</jats:p