Nd:YAG infrared laser as a viable alternative to excimer laser: YBCO case study

We report on the growth and characterization of epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7- (YBCO) complex oxide thinfilms and related heterostructures exclusively by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and using firstharmonic Nd:Y3Al5O12 (Nd:YAG) pulsed laser source ( = 1064 nm). High-quality epitaxial YBCOthin film heterostructures display superconducting properties with transition temperature 80 K.Compared with the excimer lasers, when using Nd:YAG lasers, the optimal growth conditions areachieved at a large target-to-substrate distance d. These results clearly demonstrate the potentialuse of the first harmonic Nd:YAG laser source as an alternative to the excimer lasers for the PLD thinfilm community. Its compactness as well as the absence of any safety issues related to poisonous gasrepresent a major breakthrough in the deposition of complex multi-element compounds in form ofthin films.