A COMPREHENSIVE SIMS STUDY OF HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS

High-Tc superconductors YBa2Cu3O7-x and ErBa2Cu3O7-x as well as their annealed non-superconducting counterparts have been studied by SIMS and complemented by ISS under Ar+ ion bombardment. Secondary ion mass spectra and energy distributions of secondary ions of main components and some of the molecular ions have been taken. Peculiarities found in the mass spectra and energy spectra are discussed with regard to the crystalline structure of the compounds. The results obtained suggest a significantly increased binding energy of vttrium and erbium atoms in the lattice of the superconductor. The differences in emission of some ionic species have been found between superconducting and non-superconducting states of the compounds. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of the compound have been obtained. The possibility of extracting information on the local compositional inhomogeneity of the superconductor at the background of topographic and chromatic contrasts is discussed. Some effects observed in ion scattering spectra are discussed and compared with SIMS data. © 1990.