This project will investigate methods of controlling defect densities, specifically those of stacking faults and their associated defects, during the synthesis of YBCO thin films. TEM and x-ray diffraction will be used to characterize the microstructures. Thin film will be deposited using off-axis magnetron sputter deposition. Multilayering will be some of the techniques used to control the densities of nonstoichiometric stacking faults. Microstrutures will be correlated with variations in transport properties. %%%% This project aims to correlate the critical currents with defect densities of the YBCO thin films. Correlations between the microstructures with variations in the transport properties will provide better understanding about questions concerning vortex dynamics and vortex lattice melting. Improvements in the performance of these films can be expected with this kind of understanding.
