We report on transport properties of grain boundaries fabricated in YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films grown by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique on MgO asymmetrical bicrystal substrate with 45o misorientation angle. In total around 10 samples have been studied. Substantial scatter of zero field values of the critical current density at 5K has been observed. The upper limit of Jc of the order of 104 A/cm2 found in our study is close to previously reported data for 45o bicrystals grown by various physical vapour deposition methods while the minimal value of Jc for the LPE grown bicrystals in striking difference to the results published before is exactly equal to zero. For samples with non-zero Jc we have found a few different types of critical current dependence on magnetic field ranging from pattern reminiscent Fraunhover-like Ic(H) to Ic(H) profile with Ic minimum at zero field.
We have investigated the correlation between structural and transport properties in sputtered $beta$-FeSe films grown onto SrTiO$_3$ (100). The growth parameters, such as substrate temperature and thickness, have been varied in order to explore different regimes. In the limit of textured thick films, we found promising features like an enhanced $T_{rm c}sim12,$K, a relatively high $H_{rm c2}$ and a low anisotropy. By performing magnetoresistance and Hall coefficient measurements, we investigate the influence of the disorder associated with the textured morphology on some features attributed to subtle details of the multi-band electronic structure of $beta$-FeSe. Regarding the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) induced by reducing the thickness, we found a non-trivial evolution of the structural properties and morphology associated with a strained initial growth and the coalescence of grains. Finally, we discuss the origin of the insulating behavior in high-quality stressed epitaxial thin films. We found that a lattice distortion, described by the Poissons coefficient associated with the lattice parameters textit{a} and textit{c}, may play a key role.
Gray tin, also known as {alpha}-Sn, has been attracting research interest recent years due to its topological nontrivial properties predicted theoretically. The Dirac linear band dispersion has been proved experimentally by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We have grown a series of {alpha}-Sn thin film samples in two types with different substrates and thicknesses by molecular beam epitaxy. To explore the possible exotic physical properties related to the topological band structures, we have measured the electrical transport properties of our {alpha}-Sn thin film samples and observed multiple superconducting transitions. We have identified the transitions above 4.5 K, besides the transition maybe related to the b{eta} phase around 3.7 K. The changes of the superconducting properties over time reflect the aging effects in our samples. We have also confirmed the strain effects on the superconducting transitions through altering the relative thickness of our samples.
Superconducting thin films of magnesium diboride (MgB$_2$) were prepared on MgO (001) substrate by a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method with the co-evaporation conditions of low deposition rate in ultra-high vacuum. The structural and physical properties of the films were studied by RHEED, XRD, XPS, resistivity and magnetization measurements.All films demonstrated superconductivity without use of any post-annealing process.The highest {it T}$_{c,onset}$ determined by resistivity measurement was about 33K in the present samples.Anisotropic superconducting properties were evaluated by the resistivity and magnetic measurements.We will discuss the anisotropy of superconductivity for as-grown MgB$_2$ thin films.
We present a systematic study of the morphology of homoepitaxial InP films grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy which are imaged with ex situ atomic force microscopy. These films show a dramatic range of different surface morphologies as a function of the growth conditions and substrate (growth temperature, V/III ratio, and miscut angle < 0.6deg and orientation toward A or B sites), ranging from stable step flow to previously unreported strong step bunching, over 10 nm in height. These observations suggest a window of growth parameters for optimal quality epitaxial layers. We also present a theoretical model for these growth modes that takes account of deposition, diffusion, and dissociation of molecular precursors, and the diffusion and step incorporation of atoms released by the precursors. The experimental conditions for step flow and step bunching are reproduced by this model, with the step bunching instability caused by the difference in molecular dissociation from above and below step edges, as was discussed previously for GaAs (001).
The field of magnon spintronics is experiencing an increasing interest in the development of solutions for spin-wave-based data transport and processing technologies that are complementary or alternative to modern CMOS architectures. Nanometer-thin yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films have been the gold standard for insulator-based spintronics to date, but a potential process technology that can deliver perfect, homogeneous large-diameter films is still lacking. We report that liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) enables the deposition of nanometer-thin YIG films with low ferromagnetic resonance losses and consistently high magnetic quality down to a thickness of 20 nm. The obtained epitaxial films are characterized by an ideal stoichiometry and perfect film lattices, which show neither significant compositional strain nor geometric mosaicity, but sharp interfaces. Their magneto-static and dynamic behavior is similar to that of single crystalline bulk YIG. We found, that the Gilbert damping coefficient alpha is independent of the film thickness and close to 1 x 10-4, and that together with an inhomogeneous peak-to-peak linewidth broadening of delta H0|| = 0.4 G, these values are among the lowest ever reported for YIG films with a thickness smaller than 40 nm. These results suggest, that nanometer-thin LPE films can be used to fabricate nano- and micro-scaled circuits with the required quality for magnonic devices. The LPE technique is easily scalable to YIG sample diameters of several inches.