RAMAN CHARACTERIZATION OF YBA2CU3O7-DELTA THIN-FILMS

Two aspects of Raman characterization of YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) thin f ilms are reported in this paper. First, the quantitative characterizat ion of ultra-thin YBCO films, which is difficult due to leakage of spe ctral features from the substrate. By subtracting these features, clea n vibrational spectra of YBCO films with thickness down to 12 nm have been obtained. Polarized Raman spectra of (001), (110) and (103) orien ted epitaxial YBCO films have been measured and compared with each oth er and with the predictions based on known Raman tensor components. In this way, the orientation of these epitaxial films can be easily and nondestructively determined.