Superconducting MgB2 flowers: growth mechanism and their superconducting properties

Abstract

We report for the first time the growth and the systematic study of the growth mechanism for flower-like MgB2 structures fabricated on the substrates for solid-state electronics by the hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) technique. The MgB2 flower has a width of 30 mu m and a height of 10 mu m. The superconductivity of MgB2 flowers was confirmed by a magnetization measurement, and the transition temperature is 39 K, which is comparable with high-quality bulk samples. The excellent current-carrying capability was demonstrated by MgB2 flowers. To understand the nucleation and growth mechanism of MgB2 flowers a very systematic study was performed by a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and atom probe (AP) microscopy. The HRTEM revealed that the seed grain of a MgB2 flower has a [10 (1) over bar0] direction, and the flower is composed of micro-columnar MgB2 grains having pyramidal tips and which are grown along the (0001) plane. A clear understanding of the growth mechanism for MgB2 flowers could lead to the growth of other low-dimensional MgB2 structures for superconducting electronic devices.