PATTERNING OF YBCO THIN-FILMS BY ION-IMPLANTATION AND MAGNETOOPTICAL INVESTIGATIONS

YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition were p atterned by ion implantation. The patterning technique is based on the local disordering of the crystal structure due to elastic collisions of the implanted O+-ions and thus on a strong breakdown of superconduc tivity in the irradiated areas. With this patterning method circular a nd meandering structures with a size of 1 mm were prepared for investi gations regarding high current applications. O+-ions with an energy of 180 keV were used to avoid a contamination of the film. The achieved structures were investigated concerning a dependence on the dose by me ans of RBS, XRD, AFM and magneto-optical characterization. Using a flu ence of 5 x 10(14) O+/cm(2) a fully planar and stable structure can be obtained. The patterning depth can be adjusted by varying the implant ation energy. So this technique was also used successfully on YBCO thi n films covered already with a 200 nm Au top layer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.