Deposition of YBCO thin films by high temperature spray pyrolysis

The fabrication of YBCO coated conductors on flexible textured metallic substrates requires the deposition of biaxially textured buffer layers and superconducting films. In this study we have prepared YBCO thin films on single crystal SrTiO3 substrates and cube textured Ni substrates by spray pyrolysis. The Ni substrates have been pre-buffered with CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 layers deposited by pulsed laser deposition, Spray pyrolysis of nitrate solutions has been performed directly on heated substrates at temperatures between 800 and 900 degreesC without need for a subsequent annealing step. YBCO films deposited on both types of substrate are biaxially textured. Full width half maximum values determined from phi-scans are 8degrees and 20degrees for films on SrTiO3 and buffered Ni substrates respectively, A transport J, value of 1.2 x 10(5) A/cm(2) at 77 K and zero field has been achieved on SrTiO3 (T-c onset = 91 K DeltaT(c) = 6 K), chi(ac) susceptibility measurements of films on buffered Ni substrates show T-c onsets of 88 K with AT, = 18 K, (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.