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Nano-patterning of cuprate superconductors by masked He+ ion irradiation: 3-dimensional profiles of the local critical temperature

Authors: K. L. Mletschnig, W. Lang

Microelectron. Eng., 215, 110982 (2019)

Abstract: Irradiation of cuprate high-Tc superconductors with light ions of moderate energy creates point defects that lead to a reduction or full suppression of the critical temperature. By shaping the ion flux with a stencil mask, nanostructures for emerging superconducting electronics can be fabricated. The 3-dimensional shape of such defect landscapes is examined, based on calculations of full collision cascades and atom displacements. A relation between the calculated defect density and experimental values of the critical temperature in thin YBa2Cu3O7−δ films is etablished that allows to determine the distribution of local Tc’s and its 3-dimensional visualization. The results confirm that, using 75 keV He+ ion irradiation and a stencil mask, well-defined patterns of non-superconducting material in the superconducting matrix can be produced with low blurring.


DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2019.110982

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