Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
Superconducting Ba0.6K0.4BiO3 thin films with transition temperatures up to 25 K have been successfully grown on SrTiO3 substrates using RF magnetron sputtering and postgrowth oxygen annealing. Systematic variation of the sputtering process parameters showed that optimum films can be grown on substrates heated to 400 °C in a 10 mTorr atmosphere containing 96% Ar and 4% O2 and using a target containing Ba, K, and Bi in ratios of 0.6:1.2:1.4. High transition temperature superconductivity was observed only in highly oriented, crystalline films having the ideal stoichiometry, Ba0.6K0.4BiO3.