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Notes: The growth of c-axis oriented Y1Ba2Cu3Ox thin films on an amorphous buffer layer of Y-ZrO2, deposited on sapphire substrates, was investigated. Both films were grown by a pulsed laser deposition technique. A strong correlation was observed between the properties of Y1Ba2Cu3Ox and the thickness of the buffer layer. A Tc of 89 K was obtained for an optimal buffer layer thickness of 9 nm. A model that adequately describes the film growth process was developed. A multilayer system of Y1Ba2Cu3Ox and amorphous Y-ZrO2 was grown and a Tc of 87 K for the upper c-axis oriented layer was measured.

Notes: A technique is developed for the design of input circuits of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) including those based on high transition temperature (Tc) superconductors. A multitransformer SQUID circuit is reduced to a single-loop one with effective values of its loop inductance and applied flux. A numerical model of a multitransformer magnetometer is formed and analyzed. The planar transformer coupling coefficient is evaluated. The multitransformer SQUID structures as a whole are optimized with respect to their performance, taking into account the limits set by fabrication technology. Three gradiometer-type device designs are discussed. The most complex SQUID treated is a second-order gradiometer for magnetoencephalography use which needs only a two superconducting films technology to be realized. Designs are based on available high-Tc superconductor technology. Very competitive performance with high energy resolution and magnetic-field gradient sensitivity is predicted at nitrogen temperature using a multitransformer coupling circuit.

Notes: Epitaxial films of ferroelectric barium titanate are desirable in a number of applications but their properties are inferior to those of bulk material. Relations between microstructure and dielectric properties may give better understanding of limitations. Trilayer heterostructures SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrRuO3 were grown by laser ablation on (100)LaAlO3 and (100)MgO substrates. The BaTiO3 layer was granular in structure. When grown on (100)SrRuO3/(100)LaAlO3, it was preferentially a-axis oriented due to tensile mechanical stress. Using (100)MgO as a substrate, on the other hand, produced a mixture of about equal value of a-axis and c-axis oriented grains of BaTiO3. The dielectric permittivity, cursive-epsilon, of the BaTiO3 layer was almost twice as large, at T〉200 K and f=100 kHz, for the LaAlO3 substrate as compared to the MgO one. Its maximum value (cursive-epsilon/cursive-epsilon0(approximate)6200) depended on temperature of growth, grain size, and electric field and compares well with optimal values commonly used for ceramic material. The maximum in the cursive-epsilon(T) shifted from about 370 to 320 K when the grain size in the BaTiO3 film decreased from 100 to 40 nm. At T〈300 K, hysteresis loops in polarization versus electric field were roughly symmetric. The BaTiO3 films grown on (100)SrRuO3/(100)MgO exhibit the largest remnant polarizations and coercive fields in the temperature range 100–380 K. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Epitaxial trilayer heterostructures of YBa2Cu3O7−δ/BaxSr1−xTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−δ were grown on silicon-on-sapphire buffered by a double layer of CeO2/Y–ZrO2. Such structures may be considered for tunable microwave filters. The top and bottom YBa2Cu3O7−δ films were well c-axis oriented, free from microcracks and had superconducting transitions Tc's in the range 86–90 K. A thin antidiffusion layer of SrTiO3 (d≈70 A(ring)) between YBa2Cu3O7−δ and BaxSr1−xTiO3 (x=0.25–0.9) promoted better crystallinity and higher Tc of the top superconducting film. An Ag/BaxSr1−xTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−δ capacitor structure was used to determine the dielectric permittivity and the high frequency loss tan δ of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 layer. Maximum values of the permittivity of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 layers were observed around the Curie temperatures of corresponding bulk monocrystals. The dielectric permittivity of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 (x=0.25–0.75) layers depended strongly (≈20%) on an applied voltage (±2.5 V) at temperatures around 77 K. The tan δ was much higher in films than in bulk crystals. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Design, simulation, and experimental investigations of a direct current to a single flux quantum converter loaded with a Josephson transmission line and driven by an external 70 GHz microwave oscillator are reported. The test circuit includes nine YBaCuO Josephson junctions aligned on the grain boundary of a 0°–32° asymmetric Y-ZrO2 bicrystal substrate. The performance of such converters is important for the development of the fast Josephson samplers required for testing of high-Tc rapid single flux quantum circuits in high-speed digital superconducting electronics.

Notes: Josephson junctions and dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) have been fabricated in ex situ epitaxial Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 films on bicrystal LaAlO3 substrates with symmetric 32° [001] tilt grain boundaries. The critical temperature Tc, of the junctions was in the range 105–107 K and the critical current densities at 77 K varied between 3×102 and 3×104 A/cm2, two or three orders of magnitude less than those of the film. The I–V curves are described by a resistively shunted junction model. Close to Tc, the temperature dependence of the critical current was described by (1−T/Tc)2. The flux noise spectra SΦ(f) of dc SQUIDs were measured in the locked-loop regime with constant current bias at temperatures up to 94 K. The white noise level was 50μΦ0/(square root of)Hz at 77 K. The crossover frequency to 1/f noise was low, about 5 Hz, and the flux noise level at 1 Hz was 440μΦ0/(square root of)Hz. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: High-current-density Josephson junctions have been produced in high-temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−δ films deposited on silicon on sapphire and using biepitaxial grain boundaries. The technique is estimated to be useful in integrating superconducting and semiconducting components. A multilayer system of epitaxially grown films was used to form the junctions. A double buffer layer CeO2/ZrO2(9.5% Y2O3) prevented interactions between YBa2Cu3O7−δ and Si during the high-temperature deposition and promoted formation microcrack-free films with a critical current density of 2×106 A/cm2 at 77 K. A MgO seed layer, with (001)MgO(parallel)(001)CeO2 orientation, was used to induce a 45° crystallographic grain boundary in YBa2Cu3O7−δ at its edge. An additional epitaxial buffer double layer of YBa2Cu3O7−δ and SrTiO3 on top of the seed layer promoted the formation of a grain boundary of better crystallinity and stoichiometry. It improved the critical current of the junction about tenfold and resulted in characteristic IcRn products of 150 μV at 77 K in microbridges crossing the grain boundary. Microwave-induced steps were detected at 77 K up to voltages corresponding to the characteristic IcRn value. Peak-to-peak responses to superconducting quantum interference devices reached values of 7 μV at 77 K. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: YBa2Cu3O7−x/insulator/YBa2Cu3O7−x trilayers with a single PrGaO3 (PGO) layer or a SrTiO3 (STO)/PGO multilayer as the insulator were prepared by laser deposition. The PGO layers contained pinholes extending down to the bottom layer, causing superconducting microshorts. The pinholes were eliminated by introducing thin STO films, both as buffer layers and in the PGO itself. Insulation resistivity values of 2×109 Ω cm were measured at 77 K for areas up to 1500 μm2 in these trilayers. For larger areas the insulation decreased by orders of magnitude. This was caused by local disruption of the insulator layer, possibly induced by contaminations or defects in the substrate. The particles observed on the bottom layer were in general continuously covered by the multilayer insulator, and did not affect the insulation. The high-quality insulator layer was found to limit the oxidation of the bottom layer, due to a slower rate of oxygen diffusion. The structure of the STO/PGO layers depended on the thickness of the individual films. Voids started to form in the PGO above a critical thickness of 40 nm. The voids lowered the dielectric constant of the insulator, and a value of 18.5±4.5 was measured at room temperature for a STO/PGO multilayer insulator. The voids could be eliminated by decreasing the thickness of the individual PGO films.

Notes: Josephson junctions and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) were made by depositing thin films of YBa2Cu3O7 on bicrystal substrates of Y-ZrO2 and SrTiO3. The critical current density of the junctions at 77 K could be adjusted from 100 to 106 A/cm2 by selecting bicrystals with misorientation angles θ from 45° to 0°. Current-voltage curves from junctions with θ(approximately-greater-than)22° followed the resistively shunted junction model with noise rounding close to the transition temperature. The response of the critical current to magnetic fields was Fraunhofer-like and the width (w) dependence was 1/w2 due to flux focusing effects. Shapiro steps under microwave radiation were observed. SQUIDs based on these junctions had energy resolutions at 77 K down to 8.6×10−30 J/Hz and a 10 Hz flux noise level down to 1.5×10−9 Φ20/Hz at 85 K. A SQUID of the Ketchen design with a flux focusing washer had a magnetic field sensitivity of 15 pT/(square root of)Hz at 77 K. The temperature dependence of the voltage modulation depth close to TC was examined and found to be in agreement with theory [K. Enpuku, Y. Shimomura, and T. Kisu, J. Appl. Phys. 73, 7929 (1993)].

Notes: Sharp and straight step edges on (001) LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates were ion milled by using an electron beam defined amorphous carbon thin film mask. YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films patterned to narrow strips across the step edges gave high quality Josephson junctions. Their current–voltage (I–V) curves could be well described by the resistively shunted junction model with or without excess current. By varying the YBCO film thickness over a fixed step height, the critical current density (jc) of the junction could be changed by several orders of magnitude. For junctions with high jc, typical IcRn (product of critical current and normal resistance) values of around 100 μV at 77 K and more than 1 mV at 4.2 K were obtained. Some excess current was observed. For junctions with low jc, the dependence of Ic on an applied magnetic field was strong even at low temperatures. The Ic showed a main peak in the center and well-defined periods as a function of applied magnetic field. The minimum Ic value suppressed by the magnetic field was about 20% of its maximum value at 4.2 K. Junctions with low jc usually showed hysteretic I–V curves at low temperatures. The McCumber constant βc fell in the range of 0.8–2. Fiske and flux-flow resonances were observed for some junctions. The shunting capacitances of the junctions were estimated from the McCumber constant βc, Fiske resonances, and flux-flow resonances. A shunting capacitance value per unit area of 12–35 fF/μm2 was obtained. High resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was used to study YBCO films grown across straight and wavy step edges. Two 90° tilt boundaries were formed at the edge of a step. The top and bottom YBCO films had their c axis oriented normal to the (001) plane of LAO. In the edge region, the c axis of the YBCO film was tilted by 90°, the a axis was normal to the (001) plane of LAO, and the b axis was lying along the step edge. For wavy step edges, second phase particles usually appeared in the YBCO film along the step edge region. Defects were found on the surface of the LAO substrate along the wavy step edge region. These defects might act as nucleation centers for the second phase particles in the YBCO film. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.