Superconducting MgB2 film prepared by chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure of N2

•Boron films were deposited in atmospheric pressure.•Boron films deposited in N2 atmosphere have better morphology than that of in Ar.•MgB2 films show better crystallization and superconductivity in N2 atmosphere.

A simple and effective chemical vapor deposition equipment was developed for deposition of superconducting MgB2 thin films. The pure precursor Boron films were prepared in base pressure of low vacuum and deposited in atmospheric pressure. After the precursor film annealed in Mg vapor, the superconducting MgB2 film was fabricated. During the precursor Boron films preparation, N2 and Ar were used as carrier gas. Compared to Ar gas, the films show better crystallization, surface morphology and superconducting performance when N2 is adopted as carrier gas. With flow rate of 200 sccm of N2 gas, the fabricated MgB2 films exhibit the highest superconducting transition temperature of 39.5 K, which is among the best results of MgB2 thin films. This method provides a suitable method to realize high quality MgB2 Josephson junctions and industrial manufacture of MgB2 superconducting thin films on a large scale.