YBCO film deposition on very large areas up to 20×20 cm²

In the last decade we have developed thermal reactive co-evaporation as a technique to produce high quality YBCO and other oxide films of very large size up to 9 inches in diameter. This was achieved by intermittent deposition and reaction with oxygen using a heater which rotates the substrate in and out of an oxygen pocket. Even larger substrates, e. g. coated conductors, cannot be rotated. Therefore we have recently developed a new setup where the substrate is held fixed, and the oxygen pocket is set in linear reciprocation. This technique allows simultaneous deposition on a square of 20×20 cm². Moreover, we have developed an instant refill mechanism for the thermal boats, and stable rate control by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), in order to obtain a continuous process suitable for small scale mass production.