The melting behaviours of two kinds of c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3Ox (YBCO) films with different four-symmetry in-plane orientations were observed in situ by using high temperature optical microscopy. The in-plane orientation was detected by pole figures and the atomic configuration in the vicinity of the interface of one sample was evaluated by electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the melting mode and the thermal stability of the YBCO thin films with different in-plane orientations differ completely from each other. Such a phenomenon is considerably influenced by the geometrical lattice matching between the YBCO thin films and the MgO substrate, as well as the terminal plane of the YBCO thin films.
The melting process of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(x) (YBCO or Y123) films under an oxygen atmosphere was observed in situ by means of high-temperature optical microscopy. The films were classified by pole figure measurement as c-axis oriented, with two different in-plane orientations (denoted as 0 and 45 degrees). In the 45 degrees-oriented films, electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) detected an intermediate Cu(2)O nanolayer in the vicinity of the interface. The melting mode and the thermal stability of the YBCO thin films with different in-plane orientations were greatly influenced by oxygen partial pressure. Notably, the thermal stability of the 45 degrees-oriented YBCO films dramatically grew with increasing oxygen partial pressure. We attributed this effect to a change in the intermediate Cu(2)O nanolayer thermal stability. We conclude and suggest that the thermal stability of YBCO films can be significantly enhanced by inserting a Cu(2)O buffer nanolayer.
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