Growth of high quality YbBa<inf>2</inf>Cu<inf>3</inf>O<inf>7 - δ</inf> thin films by pulsed laser deposition

YbBa2Cu3O7 - δ (Yb-123) films are deposited for the first time using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) method at three different substrate temperatures, viz. 675°C, 700°C and 725°C. Films are characterized using XRD, dc electrical resistivity, critical current density (Jc) and microstructural study by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques. It is found that 700°C is the optimum growth temperature for growing high quality Yb-123 films. The best Tc and Jc values obtained at optimum growth conditions are 88 K and 2.6 × 106 A cm-2 at 77 K, respectively. AFM photographs provide evidence in confirming the relation between growth temperature and superconducting properties. © 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.