Influence of film thickness on the critical current of YBa2Cu3O7-x thick films on Ni-V biaxially textured substrates

A promising approach to improve the engineering current density of coated c onductors is to increase the thickness of the YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) layer. In this framework, a study regarding the relationship between the thickness of the superconducting film and its critical current was performed on biaxial ly aligned YBCO films grown on epitaxial Ce2O/NiO structure using Ni89V11 n on-magnetic substrate. The critical current density (Jc) was measured for a series of YBCO films with thickness ranging from 0.2 to 2 mum, deposited a t constant rate, Je values up to 6.4x10(5)A/cm(2) at 77 K and zero magnetic field were obtained for thinner films decreasing three orders of magnitude for the 2 mum thick YBCO film, X-ray diffraction and morphological analyse s indicate a progressive structural deterioration with the increase of film thickness.