Surface layers on superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O films studied with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The chemical compositions of surface and bulk regions of pulsed laser deposited YBa2Cu3O7−x films on SrTiO3(001) substrates were examined. From the relative intensities of the surface and bulk components of the Ba 3d and Ba 4d spectra taken at different take-off angles and different escape depths [using Al Kα (1486.6 eV) and Mg Kα (1253.6 eV) excitations], we have concluded that there is a nonsuperconducting surface layer of 1 nm thickness with a composition of BaCuO2. This layer contains oxygen with a photoelectron binding energy of 531 eV, and Cu2+ ions. A superconducting film which was only 8 nm thick also had a layer of 1 nm thickness. By detecting the substrate Ti signal through this film, and ruling out a high density of pinholes, we provide evidence that the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data contain information from the superconducting phase. A polycrystalline pellet scraped in vacuum had a similar surface layer, which was only 0.4 nm thick.