Synthesis of Superconducting YbBa2Cu3O7-δ Thin Films by Electron Beam Deposition

Superconducting YbBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films were synthesized by oxygen annealing of the sequentially deposited metal films of Yb, Ba, and Cu formed by electron beam evaporation. The obtained onset temperature of superconducting transition was 81.3 K with a transition temperature width of 2.6 K. The Yb-Ba-Cu oxide films studied by X-ray diffraction consisted of only the 1-2-3 phase and showed a preferred orientation along the a-b plane on MgO single-crystal substrates.