STUDY OF YBA2CU3O7-X FILM GROWTH BY REAL-TIME RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT

The nucleation and growth of YBa2CuO7-x film was studied using the measurement of the film resistance during the deposition. The film was formed in situ by KrF pulsed laser deposition (PLD). It was found that the film is grown according to a three-dimensional island mechanism (in the Volmer-Weber mode). The individual islands begin to interconnect after 20 and 50 laser shots for laser repetition rates of 10 and 5 Hz, respectively. The thickness at which the nucleated islands coalesce increases with decreasing laser repetition rate. The nucleus ripening time of several hundreds of milliseconds was estimated using sampling of the layer resistance between the laser pulses. The tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transition of YBaCuO phase caused by fast oxygen filling immediately after deposition has been studied as well.