Epitaxial growth and superconducting anisotropy of PbSr$_{2}$Y$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$Cu$_{2}$O$_{7+\delta}$ thin films

Abstract

Thin films of single-crystal Pb$_{1-y}$Bi$_{y}$Sr$_{2}$Y$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$Cu$_{2}$O$_{7+\delta}$ (PbBi1212) were grown on SrTiO$_{3}$ (100) substrates by a two-step growth technique in which an amorphous film is annealed at 970 $^\circ$C in a closed ceramic container prepared using the same material as the film. We find that PbBi1212 exhibits superconductivity when the Ca concentration $x$ exceeds 0.3. The effective number of holes per Cu atom $n_{\rm eff}$ is well described as $n_{\rm eff}=0.34x$. The highest onset temperature for the superconducting transition attained in the present study is 65 K. The resistivity measurement in a magnetic field reveals that the coherence lengths of Pb1212 ($y=0$) are approximately 25 and 2.7 \AA, along the $ab$ plane and the $c$ axis, respectively.