Structural and superconducting properties of magnesium diboride thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on zirconium diboride buffer layers were studied. It was demonstrated that the ZrB2 layer was compatible with the MgB2 2-step deposition process. Synchrotron radiation measurements, in particular anomalous diffraction measurements, permitted the separation of MgB2 peaks from ZrB2 ones and revealed that both layers had a single in-plane orientation with a sharp interface between them. Moreover, the buffer layer avoided O contamination from the sapphire substrate. The critical temperature of this film was near 37.6K and the upper critical field measured up to 20.3T was comparable with the highest ones reported in literature.

Epitaxial MgB2 Thin Films on ZrB2 Buffer Layers - Structural Characterization by Synchrotron Radiation. V.Ferrando, C.Tarantini, E.Bellingeri, P.Manfrinetti, I.Pallecchi, D.Marré, O.Plantevin, M.Putti, R.Felici, C.Ferdeghini: Superconductor Science and Technology, 2004, 17, 1434-9