Growth mode of Cu-rich particles on laser-ablated YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 thin films

The microstructure of the laser-ablated YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin film deposited on heated (100) SrTiO3 substrate was examined by transmission electron microscope. The particles on the film mainly consist of CuO and few CuYO2. Most of these non-superconducting particles nucleate on or near the surface of the film and protrude about 100-400 nm in height. A large amount of a-axis YBCO grains also exist in the film, which nucleate at the substrate surface and grow perpendicularly above the c-axis YBCO film. The YBCO thin film deposited under low oxygen pressure has very different microstructure compared with YBCO thin film deposited under high oxygen pressure.