Effect of particle size reduction on crack formation in electrophoretically deposited YBCO films

Fabrication of superconducting films by an electrophoretic deposition techn ique has promising industrial applications. However, there are several prob lems in the case of electrophoretic deposition for fabrication of supercond ucting films, the major one being crack formation in the films. We examined the effect of particle size reduction on crack formation. The microstructu res of films were determined by scanning electron microscopy. Crack in film s deposited from a colloid consisting of submicron-sized particles was much less than that in films deposited from a colloid consisting of micron-size d particles. The particle size reduction improved the morphology of superco nducting films fabricated by the electrophoretic deposition technique. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.