Epitaxial YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub y/ thin films grown on silicon with a double buffer of Eu/sub 2/CuO/sub 4//YSZ

We report a double buffer of Eu/sub 2/CuO/sub 4/ (ECO)/YSZ to improve the growth of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub y/ (YBCO) on Si wafer. The ECO buffer material possesses a very stable 214-Tʹ structure. It has excellent structural and chemical compatibilities with YBCO and YSZ. Our study showed that the epitaxy and crystallinity of YBCO deposited on Si could be considerably enhanced by using such a double buffer of ECO/YSZ. The grown films were characterized by grazing incidence Xray reflection, rocking curve, SEM, TEM, and surface profiler. It was also found that such a double buffer could lead to a very smooth surface in the YBCO layer.