Influence of growth temperature and composition on structural disorder in YBCO thin films

Structural disorder has been measured using Raman spectroscopy for a series of films, which were grown by e-beam co-evaporation. The growth temperature and the cation stoichiometry of YBCO are essential parameters controlling the formation of structural disorder. Higher growth temperatures and higher Y fluxes produced more perfectly ordered films. Less spatial variation occurs in films with lower amounts of structural disorder.