Investigation on the Current Transport Characteristics of SrTiO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} Heterostructure
By the combined use of the sol-gel and pulsed laser deposition methods, the SrTiO{sub 3}/YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} (STO/YBCO) heterostructure was prepared on a LaAlO{sub 3} substrate. XRD results and φ scanning test showed that the prepared STO/YBCO heterostructure had good biaxial texture. Moreover, a Pt electrode was sputtered on the STO/YBCO heterostructure to investigate the current density-voltage (J − V) characteristic curves of STO/YBCO in the 50–300 K temperature range. The results showed that the STO/YBCO heterostructure had good rectifying characteristics. With an applied positive bias voltage smaller than 3.7 V, the current density of the STO/YBCO heterostructure decreased with the decrease of temperature; for higher voltages, on the contrary, the current density increased with the decrease of temperature. When the YBCO experienced superconducting transition, the turn-on voltage (V{sub t}) changed suddenly due to the sudden opening of the superconducting energy gap of YBCO. The V{sub t} variation obtained from the experiment was essentially consistent with the known value of the YBCO superconducting energy gap.