Possibility of High Deposition Rate in SmBa2Cu3Oy Films Prepared Using the Vapor–Liquid–Solid Growth Mode

Abstract

The vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth mode is expected to achieve high-quality REBa2Cu3Oy thin films at a high growth rate since it is almost identical to the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) growth mode. We studied the effect of the deposition rate on superconductivity in SmBa2Cu3Oy (Sm123) thin films prepared using the VLS growth mode. The VLS-Sm123 films as well as that deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) under optimal conditions had completely c-axis orientation and maintained high crystallinity. Critical temperatures were around 90 K and independent of the deposition rate. However, critical current densities increased with the deposition rate and reached over 1 MA/cm2 at 77 K. In this study, a maximum deposition rate of 320 nm/min was achieved; this was thirty times as high as that obtained by PLD. We propose that a deposition rate as high as that obtained by LPE can be achieved by the VLS growth mode.