AbstractEpitaxial thin films of YBaCuO were prepared by multilayer deposition from Y, Cu, and BaF2 sources with: (1) the a‐axis perpendicular to (100)SrTiO3; (2) the c‐axis perpendicular to (100)SrTiO3; and (3) the [110] axis perpendicular to (110)SrTiO3. XRD patterns as well as SEM and HREM images confirm that the films are highly oriented, essentially epitaxial. Both the a‐axis oriented and the c‐axis oriented films exhibit zero resistance at 91K. The [110] oriented film shows the sharpest transiton with a transition width of IK and zero resistance at 85K. The zero field critical current density, Jc, determined magnetically, is in excess of 107A/cm2 at 4.4K and 1.04 x 106A/cm2 at 77K for the c‐axis oriented film; for the a‐axis oriented film we obtained 6.7 x 106A/cm2 at 4.4K and 1.2 x 105A/cm2 at 77K. The orientation dependence of the critical current density in the basal plane of the a‐axis oriented film was studied. The largest Jc's occur along the in‐plane <100> axes of the substrate.
