INCORPORATION OF CO DOPANT AND ITS EFFECT ON MAGNETOTRANSPORT PROPERTIES IN C-AXIS ORIENTED EPITAXIAL YBA2CU3-XCOXO7-DELTA THIN-FILMS

We have studied the effects of incorporation of Co as a substitutional dopant for the copper site in c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin fi lms. We find that the substrate temperature and the post-deposition co oling rate are critical in obtaining thin films of the doped material with properties close to the bulk values. Studies of the critical curr ent anisotropy and magnetic field induced broadening of the supercondu cting transition in the Co doped thin films suggest that the partial s ubstitution of Co for copper results in enhanced decoupling of the CuO 2 planes responsible for superconducting transport. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.