Effect of using pure ozone on in situ molecular beam epitaxy of YBa2Cu3O7−x thin films at low pressure

Abstract

We studied the effect of ozone on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) films. The minimal ozone flux required for in situ synthesis of YBCO films was discussed taking into account the influences of kinetics and thermodynamics. Films were deposited at various growth rates and with various ozone fluxes on MgO(100) substrates at 650 °C. The minimal ozone flux required for in situ growth of YBCO films increased linearly with increasing growth rate. We suggest that in situ MBE growth of YBCO thin films with ozone is kinetically limited by the ozone-to-metal reaction ratio.