Thin films were deposited by the ablation technique, using a high-energy pulsed ion beam of 700keV, and 10J/cm2 pulses. The target plates were fabricated by sintering MgB2 stoichiometric powder at 1100C while encapsulated. The MgB2 films were preferentially c-axis oriented on r-cut Al2O3 substrates, in spite of the high quenching rate. A possible growth of MgB2 single crystals with hexagonal shape and 1μm in size was observed on the film surface. Upon conducting post-annealing at 600C, the films became superconducting with a transition temperature of TC = 11K.

Film Synthesis of MgB2 by Ion Ablation of High-Energy Pulsed Power. Y.Fudamoto, N.Kishimoto, G.A.Torres, T.J.Renk: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 2006, 242[1-2], 360-2