B. Dam et al., GROWTH AND ETCHING PHENOMENA OBSERVED BY STM AFM ON PULSED-LASER DEPOSITED YBA2CU3O7-DELTA FILMS/, Physica. C, Superconductivity, 261(1-2), 1996, pp. 1-11
The surface morphology of pulsed-laser deposited YBa2Cu3O7-delta films
is investigated by STM AFM. Instead of spiral growth, a 2D nucleation
and growth behaviour is observed. As we find these 2D nuclei also on
high-oxygen pressure DC sputtered films grown at a much lower growth r
ate, we conclude that the supersaturation is not a decisive parameter
for the predominance of either growth mode. Instead, we attribute the
absence of growth spirals to the non-steady state growth conditions in
herent to the pulsed nature of the laser-ablation process. Growth spir
als only develop, if a non-vanishing diffusional flow of adatoms towar
ds the step edge is maintained. The number of growth spirals observed
on a film is therefore not necessarily a measure for the number of scr
ew dislocations. After wet-etching the films in Br-ethanol, we observe
that etch pits are formed consisting of concentric steps. We conclude
that these pits are due to repetitive nucleation around linear defect
s. The etchpit density identified in this way is of the order of 1 per
mu m(2).