MOCVD ROUTES TO TL(2)BA(2)CA(N-1)CU(N)O(4+2N)SUPERCONDUCTOR AND DIELECTRIC INSULATOR THIN-FILMS

The evolution of HTS device technologies will benefit from the development of MOCVD (Metal-organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) routes to high quality HTS films as well as to those of insulators with low dielectric loss and close HTS lattice matches. Reviewed here are research efforts at precursor design focusing on Ba sources. A novel low pressure TGA technique is used to compare volatilities of MOCVD precursors and to quantify the role of gas phase diffusion in film growth. To form high quality Tl2Ba2Can-1CunO4+2n (n = 2,3) films, BaCaCuO(F) films are first deposited by MOCVD using the liquid precursors Ba(hfa)(2) . mep, Ca(hfa)(2) . tet, and solid Cu(dpm)(2) (hfa = hexafluoroacetylacetonate, dpm = dipivaloylmethanate methylethylpentaglyme, tet = tetraglyme). The film growth process is shown to be mass transport-limited, and an interesting ligand exchange process is identified. The superconducting TBCCO phase is formed following an ex-situ anneal in the presence of Tl2O at temperatures from 820-900 degrees C. Transport properties of TBCCO-2223 films include a T-c as high as 115K, J(c) of 2x10(5) A/cm(2) (77K), and R(s) of 0.35m Omega (5K, 10 GHz). The MOCVD growth of low loss, lattice-matched dielectric NdGaO3, PrGaO3, Sr2AlTaO6 and SrPrGaO4 films is also discussed. High quality YBa2Cu3O7-x films have been grown upon MOCVD-derived PrGaO3 substrates.