Electrical properties of electron and ion beam irradiated YBa2Cu3O7-delta

An electron beam with sufficient energy can be used to create a high qualit y Josephson junction in a single laver of YBa2Cu3O7-delta. The number of ju nctions thus produced is severely limited by the serial nature of the techn ique. An alternative method to create similar high quality Josephson juncti ons without such a serious throughput limitation is possibly the combinatio n of high resolution masking and ion irradiation. Far this reason we have s tudied the electrical properties of both electron and proton irradiated YBa 2Cu3O7-delta in some detail. It was found that the resistivity of electron beam irradiated barriers of intermediate length (200 nm) are strongly influ enced by a proximity effect when the irradiated material has a finite T-c. At higher electron doses the superconducting properties are fully suppresse d and the electrical behaviour is dominated by a Variable Range Hopping mec hanism.