Effect of high oxygen pressure annealing on superconducting Nd sub(1.85)Ce sub(0.15)CuO sub(4) thin films by pulsed laser deposition from Cu-enriched targets

We show that the quality of Nd sub(1.85)Ce sub(0.15)CuO sub(4) films grown by pulsed laser deposition can be enhanced by using a non-stoichiometric target with extra copper added to suppress the formation of a parasitic (Nd, Ce) sub(2)O sub(3) phase. The properties of these films are less dependent on the exact annealing procedure after deposition as compared to films grown from a stoichiometric target. Film growth can be followed by a 1 bar oxygen annealing, after an initial vacuum annealing, while retaining the superconducting properties and quality. This enables the integration of electron-doped cuprates with their hole-doped counterparts on a single chip, to create, for example, superconducting pn-junctions.