Structural and electrical properties of SrRuO3 thin films for buffer layers of coated conductors

SrRuO3 thin films have been grown in situ on single crystal LaAlO3 substrates and textured metal templates which contain an MgO layer produced by an ion-beam growth method. Deposition was made of oxygen partial pressure in a range from 50 m Torr to 250 m Torr with laser repetition rate of 5 Hz. Substrate temperature was between 600 degrees C and 800 degrees C. Dependence of out-of-plane and in-plane orientation of SrRuO3 thin films on pressure and growth temperature was investigated by X-ray diffraction. The surface morphology and grain growth behaviors of SrRuO3 thin films were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the transverse magnetoresistance value in a field of 4 and 8 T was measured in temperature range of 50-200 K and the ferromagnetic transition at similar to 140 K of SrRuO3 films on LaAl03 was detected by resistivity measurement. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.