Ni and Ni - alloy substrates were used for the deposition of YBa2Cu3O7 - ta
pe conductors. Cube texture of the metallic substrates was achieved by cold
rolling and annealing at temperatures >850 degreesC resulting in well alig
ned cube texture.
Tape samples up to 20 cm length were heated up to the deposition temperatur
e of 670 degreesC in reducing Ar/H - gas ambient to remove oxides from the
Ni substrate surface, Subsequently, CeO2 - based buffer layers were deposit
ed by vacuum evaporation. YBa2Cu3O7 - films were grown on this tape by ther
mal co-evaporation and intermittent oxidation in a turntable substrate hold
er. We obtained transition temperatures up to 87 K and critical current den
sities at 77K in excess of 1 MA/cm(2). Critical current characterization in
external magnetic fields revealed an excellent power of resistance. Up to
10 T the critical current dropped only by a factor of two and leveled off a
t higher fields yielding 45 % of its zero field value even at 15 T.