The microstructural properties of superconducting ErBa2Cu3O7−x films on single-crystal MgO substrates are studied by transmission electron microscopy. The as-grown films are single-crystal-like and are composed of subgrains of 0.1–0.2 μm in size. Due to annealing, the dislocations at the subgrain boundaries disappeared. The annealed films are epitaxial with either the a or the b axis of the ErBa2Cu3O7−x unit cell along 〈100〉 directions of the MgO substrate. The stress caused by lattice mismatch is relaxed by the formation of misfit dislocations at the film/substrate interface.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.