Fabrication of superconducting oxypnictide thin films

M. Kidszun, S. Haindl, T. Thersleff, J. Werner, M. Langer, J. Hänisch, K. Iida, E. Reich, L. Schultz and B. Holzapfel

IFW Dresden - P. O. Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany, EU

Corresponding author: M.Kidszun@ifw-dresden.de

Received: 21 January 2010
Accepted: 1 June 2010

Abstract

Superconducting LaFeAsO_1-xF_x thin films were successfully deposited on (001)-oriented LaAlO₃ substrates from stoichiometric polycrystalline LaFeAsO_1-xF_x targets with a fluorine concentration of up to x = 0.25. For thin film fabrication we used pulsed laser deposition at room temperature in combination with a post annealing process. In this paper we present this technique in detail, which is successfully applied on thin film growth of the iron-based “1111” LaFeAsO_1-xF_x compound. An extensive transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed further particulars about the formation and spacial distribution of the impurities. There are likewise promising results on growing superconducting GdFeAsO_1-xF_x thin films.