Reinforced {110} textured Ag/Ni composite ribbons for biaxially oriented YBCO coated tapes

New, mechanically reinforced, {110} textured Ag composite ribbons were fabr icated as possible inexpensive substrates for coated conductors without any buffer layer. The key part of this work was the use of a thin but textured Ag outlayer on an AgMg, Ni, or Ni alloys core that ensures the mechanical reinforcement while decreasing the amount of Ag. A thin Cu (50 mum) foil wa s intercalated between rectangular Ag and AgMg, Ni, or Ni alloys pieces to obtain a tough bond. After sintering, the ingots sustained a cold plastic d eformation up to thicknesses of 300, 100 and 50 mum without any intermediat e annealing. The prepared composite ribbons were then recrystallized to obt ain the {110} texture in the top Ag layer. For the Ag/AgMg ribbons, a furth er annealing in flowing oxygen was performed to reinforce the ribbons by an internal oxidation process in the AgMg layer without changing the {110} (0 11) texture in the Ag outerlayer. A unique and stable {110} (011) texture w as obtained in Ag/Ni composite ribbons after annealing at 800 degreesC. The highest degree of texture was observed in 300 mum thick Ag/Ni ribbon, x-ra y orientation distribution function and electro backscattered diffraction ( EBSD) analysis of the top Ag layer in this ribbon revealed a sharp {110} (0 11) texture with an in-plane misorientation angle of 10-15 degrees. Meanwhi le, a promising {110} (011) texture was also found in 50 mum thick ribbons with 25 degrees in-plane misorientation angle. In the last case, a substrat e with no more than 16 mum of the textured Ag layer was produced by this ne w technique, which decreased the total amount of Ag by 40% compared with pu re Ag ribbons of the same thickness.