Electron channeling pattern determination of crystallinity and crystallographic orientation in YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films

Abstract The near-surface crystallinity and crystallographic orientation in epitaxial YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ films grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on MgO(001), SrTiO 3 (001), and LaAlO 3 (001) substrates have been studied by electron channeling pattern (ECP) analysis. The ECPs are compared among CVD films and then with those of typical in situ laser ablation films. The clarity of channeling patterns from CVD films was poorer than those typical of in situ laser ablation because of secondary phases and a axis grains degrading the pattern. The channeling pattern of CVD films on MgO was the poorest of those investigated, principally as a result of the large lattice mismatch between film and substrate. The ECP analysis of a CVD film grown on an SrTiO 3 substrate containing a natural grain boundary is also reported.