Regular ArticleGrowth of a/c grain boundary with well-defined facet in single-crystalline YBa2Cu3O7 − δ film by liquid phase epitaxy

A novel a/c grain boundary with well-defined facet of the YBa2Cu3O7 − δ (Y123) film featuring a single-crystalline nature was successfully grown by liquid phase epitaxy, differing from conventional ill-defined facet film possessing a polycrystalline characteristic by the prior art deposition techniques. Here the extremely low supersaturation as essential prerequisite was exploited on (110) NdGaO3 (NGO) substrates with partly-etched c-axis Y123 films. Based on the selective growth, preferred a-axis Y123 hetero-epitaxially grew on the bare NGO directly while c-axis Y123 homo-epitaxially proceeded on pre-existing Y123, consequently fabricating a distinct a/c grain boundary, which has great importance for fundamental studies and device applications.

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