HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING THIN-FILMS

This paper discusses the fabrication, properties, and applications of high-temperature superconducting thin films. Two novel techniques are described, which were developed for the preparation and the characterization of high-temperature superconducting thin films, respectively: the laser ablation processing technique, and the magnetically modulated microwave absorption (MAMMA) method. The processing technique was used to deposit thin films of La-Sr-Cu-O, Y-Ba-Cu-O, and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O on substrates that included fused quartz, crystalline Si, sapphire, and oriented crystals of strontium titanate and zirconium oxide, and the MAMMA technique was used, along with structural, electrical, and magnetic measurements, for film characterization. The MAMMA method was found to be a highly sensitive tool for studying a variety of phenomena related to superconductivity.