Growth of Electron-Doped Superconductor ${\rm \Pr}_{0.9}{\rm LaCe}_{0.1}{\rm CuO}_{4}$ Films and Their Applications to Intrinsic Josephson Junctions

As a typical electron-doped high-T _c superconductor, Pr_0.9LaCe_0.1CuO₄ (PLCCO) single crystal samples were widely studied. In this work, superconducting PLCCO films have been successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition method. The zero resistance transition temperature of the films deposited under optimal condition is up to 24.0 K, equal to the reported value of single crystals with the same composition. Further, in PLCCO micro-bridges structured across a low-angle step on SrTiO₃ (100) substrates, typical hysteresis and multiple resistive branches were observed in the current-voltage curves. These transport properties can be understood as so-called intrinsic Josephson effects, resulting from the tunneling between interleaving superconducting and non-superconducting layers in anisotropic superconductors. While this confirms the high quality of the films, more investigations are necessary for the potential applications in superconductor electronics.