Atomic-layer engineering of superconducting oxides:: Yesterday, today, tomorrow

In the last decade, great progress has been made in atomic-layer synthesis of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) and related oxides. Achievements include growth of single-crystal films of various I-ITS phases, precise multilayers and superlattices, the first artificial HTS compounds, and superconductor-normal metal-superconductor (SNS) trilayer Josephson junctions with good characteristics and uniformity. Today, we are trying to integrate atomic-layer engineering, combinatorial molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) synthesis, and state-of-the-art analytical tools for surface science. In future, I expect the technique to be improved further and scaled up to manufacturing. This will trigger progress in basic physics, materials science, and electronics. A variety of novel devices, combining different oxide functionality, will be built. Large-scale integration will be achieved. Eventually, one can envision multi-functional all-oxide electronics - sensors, processing, and memory devices, all monolithically integrated within a single chip.