Abstract
Thin layers of YBaCuO and BiSrCaCuO superconducting oxides have been deposited on different substrates by the laser evaporation technique using a pulsed ArF excimer laser. The films were analysed by different ion beam techniques: nuclear reaction (NR), particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE), Rutherford back‐scattering (RBS), elastic recoil detection (ERD) with high‐energy incident ions, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). Conventional PIXE and RBS with proton and helium beams were used to determine the mean stoichiometry and the near‐surface composition for the heavy elements of the target, and the ^16^O(d, α)^14^N nuclear reaction was employed at E~d~ = 900 keV (θ~d~ = 150°) to profile the oxygen content in the layers. In order to obtain detailed information on the variations of the relative concentration in depth, SIMS was also performed on thin layers and on bulk superconducting target prepared by standard ceramic techniques. Absolute profiles of matrix elements, from O to Bi, were also determined by the ERD technique using high‐energy (up to 240 MeV) heavy incident ions (^127^I) and a Δ__E__–E gas telescope in order to discriminate between the recoiling atoms.
Finally, the resolution and sensitivity of the different methods are compared.