PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Y1-ZNDZBA2CU3O7-X LPE FILMS

LPE Y1-zNdzBa2Cu3O7-x films with 0 less than or equal to z less than or equal to 0.5 were prepared in CuO-BaO-YO1.5 flux melts and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, optical polarization microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, torque magnetometry, and AC-susceptometry. The a/b-axis films on (110) NdGaO3 substrates exhibit a homogeneous chemical composition and an identical in-plane orientation. After annealing in oxygen we obtained twinned a/b-(Y,Nd)BCO films with reduced orthorhombicity and superconducting transition temperatures T-c compared to a/b-YBCO ones. The influence of the replacement of yttrium by neodymium on the crystallographic properties is discussed.