Anisotropic Characteristics of In-plane Aligned a-axis YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7-δ] Thin Films.

Highly in-plane aligned a-axis oriented YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7-δ] (YBCO) thin films with unprecedented transition temperature (T[sub c] ∼ 91.3 K) have been deposited on (100) LaSrGaO[sub 4] substrates using a continuously grown PrBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7-δ] (PBCO) template layer by pulsed laser. The anisotropies between b- and c-axis were investigated by transport measurements and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Although, the onset T[sub c]'s along b- and c-axis appeared approximately the same, a significant filing was observed in the resistive transition along c-axis. The temperature-dependent of the tailing effect, however, cannot be explained by thermally activated phase-slippage (TAPS) commonly encountered in grain-boundary weak links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]