DEPOSITION OF BIAXIALLY-ORIENTED METAL AND OXIDE BUFFER-LAYER FILMS ON TEXTURED NI TAPES - NEW SUBSTRATES FOR HIGH-CURRENT, HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

Techniques are reported for sputter deposition of biaxially oriented b uffer-layers on textured Ni tapes. These buffered tapes can be employe d as long, flexible, or large area substrates for biaxially-aligned hi gh-temperature superconductors (HTS) with high critical current densit y J(c). Using deposition techniques at temperatures as low as 25 degre es C, epitaxial Pd or Pt films were first deposited as a base layer on the textured Ni tapes, followed by deposition of biaxially oriented A g or CeO2 buffer layers. Using Ar/4%H-2 sputter gas, biaxially oriente d CeO2 films were also grown directly on the textured Ni tapes, follow ed by the epitaxial growth of YSZ films. All the films show both stron g in-plane and out-of-plane orientations. The effects of Ni surface sm oothness on buffer-layer texture were also investigated.