Inter- and intragrain transport measurements in YBa2Cu3O7-x deformation textured coated conductors

Using photolithography, links for transport measurement have been placed ac ross individual Ni grain boundaries and within individual Ni grains on seve ral coated conductor samples. The typical Ni grain size is similar to 50 mu m, while the YBa2Cu3O7-x grains are submicron in size. It is found that the intragrain J(c)(0 T,77 K) can exceed 5 MA/cm(2), thus showing that present coated conductor J(c) values are not significantly limited by the intragra in J(c). Inter- and intragrain J(c) values ranged from one-half to more tha n four times full-width measured values, demonstrating that current percola tes through the conductor. The misorientation angle dependence of J(c) fits well with previous studies of [001] tilt SrTiO3 bicrystals. (C) 2001 Ameri can Institute of Physics.