High critical current density YBa2Cu3O7-delta films on surface-oxidized metallic substrates

YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) films with high critical current density (J(c)) were fabricated on nickel tapes buffered with hi-axially textured NiO prepared by surface-oxidation epitaxy (SOE). The effects of oxide cap layers, such a s YSZ, CeO2 and MgO, on the SOE-grown NiO were investigated to improve the superconducting properties of the YBCO films on NiO. By inserting a thin Mg O cap layer between NiO layer and YBCO film, a J(c) of 3 X 10(5) A/cm(2) (7 7 K, 0 T) was achieved. This result indicates the potentiality of the SOE m ethod. In this paper, the application of the NiO/Ni substrate to non-vacuum processings, such as metal-organic deposition (MOD) and liquid phase epita xy (LPE) will be also introduced. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.