Plasma assisted oxidation of perovskites for forming high temperature superconductors using inductively coupled discharges

A method for plasma assisted oxidation of a perovskite material comprising the steps of:

• placing the perovskite material in a toroidally shaped inductively coupled plasma reactor;
• operating the plasma reactor with an alternating current power supply at a frequency below 5 MHz;
• operating the plasma reactor with a power density between 0.1 and 10 W/cm.sup.3 ;
• providing an oxygen reactant gas during operation of the plasma reactor at a flow rate between 1 and 1,000 standard cubic centimeters per minute;
• maintaining a pressure within the plasma reactor during operation between 0.1 and 10 Torr;
• maintaining the perovskite material at substantially room temperature;
• and
• maintaining operation of the plasma reactor until the perovskite material achieves an oxidation state causing a phase change from tetragonal to orthorhombic symmetry resulting in high temperature superconductivity with less thermal energy and more quickly than other methods of plasma assistance.