Structure and morphology of MgO/YBCO bilayers for biepitaxial junctions

(110) MgO thin films have been deposited by RF sputtering on (110) SrTiO3 and used as buffer layers for YBCO deposition. The MgO films show high morphological quality, as confirmed by X-ray specular reflectivity, and narrow (approximate to 1 degrees) X-ray diffraction peaks in the rocking curves measurements. These results are discussed in the framework of an ionic oxide growth model. XRD analyses performed on the bilayer YBCO/MgO (110) confirm the epitaxial growth of the films. with cool) YBCO//(110) MgO. XRD, AFM, SEM measurements are compared with data relative to bilayers deposited on (100) SrTiO3.