Initial stage of epitaxial growth of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x thin films

Abstract

Abstract Initial stage of the epitaxial growth of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x thin films on MgO(100) was investigated by means of in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and X-ray diffraction. In situ RHEED observation showed that the formation of the perovskite structure occured even at initial deposit and the growth manner was layer by layer. The lattice spacing of YBCO converted from the bulk value of MgO to that of YBCO when the layer became thicker than 12 A. X-ray analysis revealed that a 100 A thick YBCO film had the orthorhombic structure.