| We have studied the growth of superconducting films of {dollar}rm Ysb1Basb2Cusb3Osb{lcub}7-delta{rcub}{dollar} using reactive electron beam coevaporation. Emphasis was placed on determining the most important growth parameters, and optimizing the instrumentation for controlling the growth environment. We have experimented with atomic absorption based deposition rate control, quartz lamp based substrate heating, and various forms of activated oxygen. Methods for generating and delivering molecular oxygen, oxygen ion beams, ozone and atomic oxygen were investigated and their effects on film quality were characterized. We found that the specific method of oxidation was not critical to the film quality but that optimal films were produced at lower pressures ({dollar}sim{dollar}10{dollar}sp{lcub}-4{rcub}{dollar}T) for more chemically reactive allotropes of oxygen. Composition was found to be quite important in determining the film properties. These results are discussed in the context of growth kinetics and equilibrium thermodynamics.; We have studied the transport properties of artificial grain boundary Josephson junctions of {dollar}rm Ysb1Basb2Cusb3Osb{lcub}7-delta{rcub}{dollar}. Measurements and modeling of the magnetic interference patterns of the critical currents revealed the presence of extensive disorder within the junctions. The temperature dependence of the critical currents revealed behavior consistent with the resistively shunted junction (RSJ) model. Modeling the inhomogeneous junctions as parallel arrays of RSJ-like junctions explained the clean RSJ-like current-voltage characteristics even in junctions showing extremely complicated magnetic interference patterns. The observed modulation period of the single junction interference patterns showed an unusual w{dollar}sp{lcub}-2{rcub}{dollar} width dependence that could be quantitatively explained by a model of flux focusing based on the London theory. A model of the diffraction patterns for junctions fabricated from extremely thin films shows unexpected deviations from the usual behavior. These peculiarities are understood in terms of the effects of the electrode corners on the Josephson phase variation.; The measurements and models presented in this thesis represent useful tools for analyzing grain boundary and other junctions of similar geometry. In particular the models presented are useful for predicting the magnetic behavior of any wide planar junctions. Additionally, as advances in fabrication technology push Josephson junctions into the submicron regime, the corner effects will become important even in conventional geometries. |
