Growth and characterization of Eu-Cu-O thin films on YSZ[100] substrates

High quality epitaxial Eu/sub 2/CuO/sub 4/ (ECO) thin films have been deposited on yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) [100] substrates by magnetron rf sputtering method. The obtained ECO films are highly c-axis-oriented and well crystallized, as shown by x-ray diffraction, rocking curves. The influence of oxygen out-diffusion on the c-axis length and the resistance behavior were studied. The post vacuum annealing removes the excess oxygen from the structure of ECO. As a result, the c-axis length decreases and the resistivity increases. By using ECO as a buffer layer, extremely smooth surface of YBCO was obtained on YSZ substrates.