Thin films of the compound were grown using a magnetron sputtering deposition technique followed by in situ annealing (830C). High-quality films were obtained on both sapphire and MgO substrates. The best films exhibited a maximum TC,onset of 35K, a transition width of 0.5K, a residual resistivity ratio up to 1.6, a low-temperature critical current density JC > 106A/cm2 and an anisotropic critical field with γ  2.5; close to the values obtained for single crystals. The preparation technique could be easily scaled to produce large-area in situ films.

High-Quality MgB2 Thin Films in situ Grown by DC Magnetron Sputtering. R.Vaglio, M.G.Maglione, R.Di Capua: Superconductor Science and Technology, 2002, 15, 1236-9