Raman microprobe technique diagnostic of YBCO films produced by laser ablation

We have used a Raman microprobe technique for the characterisation and the diagnostic of YBCO superconducting thin films deposited by Pulsed-Laser Ablation (PLA) on MgO insulating substrates. Using polarisation analysis associated with sample rotations we developed a method for films orientation determination without any request for absolute calibration of the Raman spectra. The use of a bidimensional multichannel detector (OMA 4) allowed an overall detection time of 40 minutes. Each spectrum (shift range from 100 cm−1 to 700 cm−1) takes about 600 seconds. The results of this detection were used to determine the oxygen content, from the position of the Raman mode at 500 cm−1 Homogeneity was checked with the spatial resolution allowed by the dimension of the focused laser beam (10 μm).