Preparation of oriented Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O thin films using pulsed laser deposition

Oriented c-axis thin films of Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O on [100] SrTiO3 substrates have been fabricated using the pulsed excimer laser evaporation technique. Deposition at room temperature in 1 mTorr oxygen followed by an 875 0C anneal in oxygen yields superconducting films with zero resistance at 80 K and a resistivity drop near 110 K, hinting at the presence of another superconducting phase. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the films are epitaxial with the substrate, with an abrupt and planar interface boundary. The observed crystal structure is consistent with diffraction results on bulk materials