source materials were heated to between 60 and 200 C. The pressure in the source vessels was between 80 and 196 hPa. The carrier gas was Ar and the flow rate was in the range 70±300 sccm, depending on the source materials, which were loaded individually into the source vessels. The pipes connected to the reactor were heated to above 200 C in order to avoid vapor condensation. Oxygen was supplied to the reactor at 36 hPa and the total pressure in the reactor was 65 hPa. The deposition temperature was 800 C. The as-prepared thin films had a cation composition of Bi/Sr/Ca/Cu = 1:1:1:(1.5±1.7). The composition and thickness of the thin films were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) (SPS 7700, Seiko Instruments Inc.). X-ray diffraction patterns (D500, Siemens) have shown that that films were epitaxial, c-axis aligned, and formed from the Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O 10±x phase. The morphology of the thin films was inspected by optical microscopy on large areas, and by atomic force microscopy (AFM) (SPA 300, Seiko Instruments Inc.) locally. The superconductivity of the thin films was checked by the standard four-probe method.