Coherently strained epitaxial YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ films grown on NdGaO$_3$ (110)

Abstract

YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ is a good candidate to systematically study high-temperature superconductivity by nanoengineering using advanced epitaxy. An essential prerequisite for these studies are coherently strained YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ thin films, which we present here using NdGaO$_3$ (110) as a substrate. The films are coherent up to at least 100 nm thickness and have a critical temperature of 89$\pm$1 K. The $a$ and $b$ lattice parameters of the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ are matched to the in-plane lattice parameters of NdGaO$_3$ (110), resulting in a large reduction of the orthorhombicity of the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$. These results imply that a large amount of structural disorder in the chain layers of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ is not detrimental to superconductivity.