This paper reports comprehensive results on thin-film growth of 122-type
iron-pnictide superconductors, AE(Fe1-xCox)2As2 (AE = Ca, Sr, and Ba,
AEFe2As2:Co) by a pulsed laser deposition method using a neodymium-doped
yttrium aluminum garnet laser as an excitation source. The most critical
parameter to produce the SrFe2As2:Co and BaFe2As2:Co phases is the substrate
temperature (Ts). It is difficult to produce highly-pure CaFe2As2:Co phase thin
film at any Ts. For BaFe2As2:Co epitaxial films, controlling Ts at 800-850
{\deg}C and growth rate to 2.8-3.3 {\AA}/s produced high-quality films with
good crystallinity, flat surfaces, and high critical current densities > 1
MA/cm2, which were obtained for film thicknesses from 100 to 500 nm. The doping
concentration x was optimized for Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 epitaxial films, leading to
the highest critical temperature of 25.5 K in the epitaxial films with the
nominal x = 0.075.Comment: will be published in the special issue of Superconductor Science and
Technology, `Iron12