Laser ablation deposition of superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films on zirconia-buffered crystalline quartz

Thin films of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O have been deposited on crystalline quartz substrates by laser ablation. Without a buffer layer, superconducting regions exist in the films as detected by magnetically modulated microwave absorption. However, with a 1000-Å zirconia buffer layer, also deposited by laser ablation, continuous, superconducting thin films were obtained. It is shown that both annealing temperature and annealing time greatly affect the film quality.