Anisotropic characteristics of in-plane aligned a-axis YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films

Abstract

Highly in-plane aligned a-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) thin films with unprecedented transition temperature (T-c similar to 91.3 K) have been deposited on (100) LaSrGaO4 substrates using a continuously grown PrBa2Cu3O7-delta (PBCO) template layer by pulsed laser. The anisotropies between b- and c-axis were investigated by transport measurements and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Although, the onset T-c's along b- and c-axis appeared approximately the same, a significant filing was observed in the resistive transition along c-axis. The temperature-dependent of the tailing effect, however, cannot be explained by thermally activated phase-slippage (TAPS) commonly encountered in grain-boundary weak links.