ION-IMPLANTATION AND THERMAL ANNEALING OF SINGLE-CRYSTALS OF THE TYPE-YBA2CU3OX

Abstract

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) has been used to examine the effects of oxygen implantation and thermal annealing on the near-surface composition of single crystals of high-Tc superconducting oxides of the type YBa2Cu3Ox. This study has shown that the structural disorder induced by oxygen implantation at 77 K can result in significant changes in the near-surface composition of the material during subsequent thermal annealing in a variety of atmospheres (O2,O2 + H2O, Ar). These compositional changes are observed for annealing temperatures (500° C) and times (4 h) that are usually employed in the processing of YBa2Cu3Ox type materials to increase the oxygen content. Such annealing..