Factors that influence particle formation during pulsed electron deposition of YBCO precursors

Pulsed electron deposition (PED) is an attractive alternative to pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for growing thin films because of PED’s relatively low cost. A potential problem with PED, however, is the generation of particulates that interfere with film growth. The influence of ambient pressure and accelerating potential on the number of and size of particulates appearing on the surface of films was investigated for the barium fluoride-based YBCO precursor process. It was found that the size of the particulates varies exponentially with accelerating voltage. The size of the particulates can be reduced to less than 100 nm by increasing the ambient pressure beyond that required for optimum deposition rate. The ability to control the size of particulates could make PED useful for technical applications where the generation of sub-micron sized materials is desired.