DEVELOPMENT OF BUFFER LAYER STRUCTURES FOR YBa2Cu3O7-δ COATED CONDUCTORS ON TEXTURED Ni-V SUBSTRATE

Y 2 O 3 and MgO-based buffer layer architectures on non-magnetic cube textured Ni-V substrates were studied for YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ (YBCO) coated conductors fabrication using both pulsed laser deposition and electron beam evaporation. The Y 2 O 3 films exhibited a biaxial texture with φ and ω-scans full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 11° and 7° and a smooth and continuous surface. YBCO thick films deposited on CeO 2/ Y 2 O 3/ Ni-V and CeO 2/ Y 2 O 3/ NiO/Ni-V architectures were mainly c-axis oriented showing a T C(R=0) above 85 K. MgO films were grown by electron beam evaporation both directly on metallic substrates and with a Pd intermediate layer. The MgO films grown on Ni-V substrates show a good texture and good surface morphological properties. The MgO deposition on Pd buffered Ni-V substrate leads to films with better structural properties with respect to MgO deposition on bare Ni-V substrate, showing φ and ω-scans FWHM up to 8° and 5°, respectively. In spite of the interdiffusion between Pd buffer layer and Ni-V substrate, the MgO films preserve their structural and morphological properties when annealed at typical YBCO deposition temperature.