Microwave properties of highly oriented YBa2Cu3O7-? superconducting thin films

Abstract

We have performed millimeter-wave frequency (94 GHz) measurements on high-quality YBa2Cu3O7-δ superconducting films on yttrium-stabilized (100) ZrO2 and MgO substrates. The ∼0.2μm thin films fabricated by magnetron sputteringin situ with the YBa2Cu3O7-δ powders as target exhibit superconducting transition temperatures up to 88 K. The critical current density of 6×105 A/cm2 at 77 K and the X-ray diffraction spectrum as well as scanning electron microscope photographs indicate these thin films are fullyc-axis oriented, extremely high in density, and universally homogeneous. Millimeter-wave surface resistances have been measured on a hemisphere open resonator in the temperature range of 20 K toT c and beyond. The surface resistance at 94 GHz and 77 K for these films is found to be about 30 mΩ, nearly 1/4 that for copper, and a drop of two orders in the surface resistance within 4 K is observed, which indicates that these films are good materials for applications in the millimeter-wave range, especially for fabricating microwave devices. We observed such low surface resistance in these thin films due to the near absence of grain and phase boundaries coupled with a high degree of crystalline orientation.