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..