How does Conductus make superconductors?
Conductus makes superconducting components and devices using thin-film deposition technology and the same photolithographic processing techniques that are at the heart of the semiconductor industry. Superconducting films and films of other materials used in our components are made by vacuum deposition techniques like sputtering, pulsed laser deposition and co-evaporation. These techniques, for the most part, were first developed for other industries. Sputtering, for example, is used to put coatings on razor blades! YBCO deposition by sputtering. Growing YBCO films is a tricky business because the crystalline material only forms under conditions of high temperature (roughly 800o C) and in the presence of oxygen. These are difficult conditions to achieve easily in thin-film deposition systems.
