Processing effects on the contact resistance of ion beam sputtered silver on highly oriented c-axis and a-axis YBCO films

This paper reports on the processes used to achieve low resistance silver contacts to YBCO thin films that have either c-axis or a-axis orientation. Characterization by x-ray diffraction and TEM verified that these films are highly oriented with either the a or the c axis oriented perpendicular to the substrate surface. TEM examination of some of the Ag/YBCO interfaces reveals the presence of an amorphous layer. The authors will describe the effects of ion beam etching and RTA alloying on the contact resistivity for both orientations