ION CHANNELING STUDIES OF REGROWTH KINETICS IN CRYSTALLINE METAL-OXIDES USED WITH HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

The near surface regions of the single crystals of LaAlO3 and NdGaO3 a re disordered to a depth of 150 nm by oxygen ion implantation. Thermal ly induced solid state epitaxial regrowth kinetics of these damaged la yers are studied using ion channeling. It is seen that the regrowth in LaAlO3 samples starts at a temperature of 450 degrees C for 1 h in ox ygen atmosphere. Most of the disordered region recovers as the anneali ng temperature is increased to 600 degrees C. Some end of range damage remains even after annealing at 1100 degrees C for 1 h. In the case o f NdGaO3, the epitaxial regrowth starts at 650 degrees C. as the annea ling temperature is increased to 900 degrees C, practically all the da maged region recovers. The Arrhenius plots indicate a distinct epitaxi al-regrowth regime with different activation energies for the two case s. The implication of these results on the technology of high temperat ure superconducting circuit fabrication is discussed. (C) 1996 America n Institute of Physics.