LT-SEM Studies of Superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Film

Electron beam induced voltage images, which directly indicate the distribution of the critical current density, are observed in the superconducting strips of Y1Ba2Cu3O7−δ and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films by Low Temperature Scanning Electron Microscopy (LT-SEM). Band patterns appear in several places within the strip of Y1B2C3O7−δ whereas the vague homogeneous voltage contrast extends throughout the strip of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O. Voltage images of 90° misoriented grain-boundaries yield dark contrast which is considered to arise from semiconductor-like behavior of the grain boundary resistivity.