PREPARATION OF a-AXIS ORIENTED YBa2Cu3Ox THIN FILMS

The a-axis oriented YBa2Cu3Ox(YBCO) thin films could be grown on (100) SrTiO3(STO) substrates with STO buffer layers by dc and rf magnetron sputtering either by low-ering the deposition temperature, or by using a self-template technique. For the latter, the resistivity of the thin film at 290K along the substrate 001] direction is about four times larger than that in the 010] direction. The zero resistance temperatures Tc0 are 89 K in both directions. So high quality a-axis oriented YBCO thin films can be prepared by the self-template technique. Also the Tc0 increase monotonously with the reduction of the thickness of the YBCO seed layer.