Epitaxial Sr2RuO4 heterostructures

Sr2RuO4 is the only known layered perovskite that is free of copper, yet superconducting. Its low metallic resistivity and excellent lattice match with YBa2Cu3O7-delta make it an attractive candidate for use as conductive electrodes to YBa2Cu3O7-delta-based superconducting devices or as a normal metal in YBa2Cu3O7-delta-based SNS junctions, We have determined optimal deposition conditions for growth of single-domain epitaxial films of Sr2RuO4, Films with excellent crystallinity are readily grown at substrate temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees C at low pressures, At lower temperatures and higher pressures, films predominantly consist of the SrRuO3 phase, Resistivity versus temperature measurements reveal that the as-grown Sr2RuO4 films are metallic, but not superconducting. Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-delta/Sr2RuO4 heterostructures have also been grown, X-ray and resistivity measurements show that the YBa2Cu3O7-delta films are of high quality.