Application of textured highly alloyed Ni-W tapes for preparing coated conductor architectures

An epitaxial Y2O3/YSZ/CeO2 buffer architecture has been prepared on cube textured Ni-5at.%W, Ni-7.5at.%W and Ni-9at.%W tapes using pulsed laser deposition. The buffer layer growth was studied in detail and revealed a good texture transfer throughout the structure on the global as well as on the local scale. YBCO (yttrium barium copper oxide) layers were successfully deposited on the buffered tapes, showing an in-plane texture spread of about 7°. Microstructural investigations revealed clear interfaces and a homogeneous surface structure. A superconducting transition temperature of more than 89K with a small transition width was observed for all metal substrates. A critical current density Jc of more than 0.9MAcm-2 was measured inductively at 77K in the self-field on all substrates. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.