Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 29 March 1991:
Vol. 251. no. 5001, pp. 1587 - 1589
DOI: 10.1126/science.251.5001.1587
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Growth Mechanism of Sputtered Films of YBa2Cu3O7 Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

MARILYN HAWLEY 1, IAN D. RAISTRICK 1, JEROME G. BEERY 1, and ROBERT J. HOULTON 1

1 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545

The surface microstructures of c-axis-oriented films of YBa2Cu3O7, deposited by off-axis magnetron sputtering on MgO and SrTiO3 single crystal (100) substrates, have been investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy. There is strong evidence that the films nucleate as islands and grow by adding material to the edge of a spirally rising step. This results in columnar grains, each of which contains a screw dislocation at its center. This microstructure may be of significance in determining superconducting properties such as critical current, and represents a significant difference between thin films (especially those grown in situ) and bulk materials.

Submitted on December 27, 1990
Accepted on March 1, 1991


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Single-Crystal Epitaxial Thin Films of the Isotropic Metallic Oxides Sr1-xCaxRuO3 (0 le x le 1).
C. B. Eom, R. J. Cava, R. M. Fleming, J. M. Phillips, R. B. vanDover, J. H. Marshall, J. W. P. Hsu, J. J. Krajewski, and W. F. Peck Jr. (1992)
Science 258, 1766-1769
   Abstract »    PDF »
Dislocations and Flux Pinning in YBa2Cu3O7-delta.
S. JIN, G. W. KAMMLOTT, S. NAKAHARA, T. H. TIEFEL, and J. E. GRAEBNER (1991)
Science 253, 427-429
   Abstract »    PDF »
"Spiral Forest" May Hold Clue to Thin-Film Superconductivity.
I. AMATO (1991)
Science 251, 1564-1565
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)