STABILITY OF MAGNESIUM IMPLANTED YBA2CU3O7 THIN-FILMS

Magnesium ions were implanted into highly crystalline YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films for the purpose of patterning. Films were implanted at dos es corresponding to Mg contents of x = 0.008, 0.02, and 0.04 in the fo rmula YBa2(Cu1-xMgx)(3)O-7. High temperature annealing (900 degrees C) of films implanted below the solubility limit was successful in obtai ning single phase, Mg doped YBCO films with finite resistivities at 77 K and x-ray (005) rocking curve widths <0.15 degrees. An electron pro be microanalysis on a film patterned using Mg implantation revealed th at lateral diffusion of Mg ions resulting from annealing was limited t o only a few microns. The superior quality of a top layer film indicat ed that Mg ion implantation is suitable for multilayer patterning. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(97)03151-3].