Molecular beam epitaxial growth of high-T<SUB>c</SUB> Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been used to grow high-temperature superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films with adequate control over growth of number of unit layers. Oxide sources of Sr and Ca used for electron beam evaporation have been found to be useful for epitaxial growth of films. Deposited films show superconducting properties comparable to films deposited by using pure metals with a complicatedin situ oxidation technique. Optimum deposition and annealing conditions have been obtained to grow c-axis-oriented 2212 phase BSCCO film. In situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) study of the films has revealed the growth of epitaxial films with atomically smooth surfaces