The use Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) as a buffer layer for YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) thin films on (100) silicon (Si) substrates is investigated. YSZ was grown using on-axis pulsed D.C. (PDC) and R.F. magnetron sputtering from a 99.9% pure YSZ target [(Y2O3)0.08(ZrO2)0.92]. Sputtering was carried out in Argon/Oxygen atmosphere at total pressures ranging from 6 to 320 mTorr containing 0.1 to 10% Oxygen. Substrate temperatures were varied from 300° C to 900° C. (111), (100) and mixed (100) and (111) oriented YSZ films were produced with thickness of 50 to 200 nm. YBCO films, 200 nm thick, were then grown by pulsed-laser deposition in an atmosphere of 0.5 Torr 02 at 750° C. The critical temperature (TC(R=0)) of the films produced was 75 K - 81K. A "T" resonator design was patterned on the YBCO/YSZ/Si structure and tested. Results show a band-reject response centered at 3.872 GHz with a quality factor of 20,000.
