High-quality single-crystal Nb films with the thickness of 2000Å have successfully been grown epitaxially on single-crystal sapphire (α-Al
2O
3) and MgO substrates by using an electron-beam evaporation technique. High energy electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction studies have indicated that the Nb (100) plane parallel to the Al
2O
3 (1102) and MgO (100) Planes, and the Nb (110) plane parallel to the Al
2O
3 (0001) plane are obtained. The single-crystal Nb films obtained have sufficiently high
Tc values and larger resistance ratios (R
300/R
10=20 -200) than the existing Nb films. On the other hand, single-crystal Nb films have failed to grow on single-crystal quartz substrates, and polycrystal Nb films have showed an increase in lattice constant and a decrease in
Tc above a substrate temperature of 500°C. Auger electron spectroscopic (AES) analysis has showed that a reactive interdiffusion occurred in an interfacial region between the deposited Nb film and the quartz substrate, which may prevent epitaxial growth of the Nb films.
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