EPITAXIAL YBA2CU3O7 ON BIAXIALLY TEXTURED NICKEL(001) - AN APPROACH TO SUPERCONDUCTING TAPES WITH HIGH CRITICAL-CURRENT DENSITY

In-plane-aligned, c axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) films with supercon ducting critical current densities J(c) as high as 700,000 amperes per square centimeter at 77 kelvin have been grown on thermomechanically rolled-textured nickel (001) tapes by pulsed-laser deposition. Epitaxi al growth of oxide buffer layers directly on biaxially textured nickel , formed by recrystallization of cold-rolled pure nickel, made possibl e the growth of YBCO films 1.5 micrometers thick with superconducting properties that are comparable to those observed for epitaxial films o n single-crystal oxide substrates. This result represents a viable app roach for the production of long superconducting tapes for high-curren t, high-field applications at 77 kelvin.