Super-conducting niobium films produced by means of UHV arc

The paper shows that high-quality super-conducting Nb films can be deposited by means of arc discharges under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The critical temperature T-c of Nb-films obtained with a planar cathodic arc Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) system; is very close to that of pure bulk niobium T-c= 9.26 K and the transition to super-conducting state is very narrow. The films have higher Residual Resistivity Ratio (RRR) values (up to 80) and larger grain sizes, as compared with spattered Nb-films deposited at the same temperature.