High-rate reel-to-reel continuous coating of biaxially textured magnesium oxide thin films for coated conductors

Biaxially textured thin films of magnesium oxide (MgO) were deposited by electron beam evaporation at deposition rates of 0.6 mum/min on moving Ni-based alloy tapes as oriented buffer layers for coated conductors. Moving substrates were inclined with respect to the atomic vapor and translated through collimated dual vapor sources. Growth anisotropy in the MgO and sell-shadowing effects due to the inclined angle combine to create biaxial texture in the deposited thin films. MgO films grown to a thickness of 2.0 mum with this inclined-substrate deposition technique have yielded in-plane textures of 10-12 degrees full-width half-maximum (FWHM). Results of a parametric study on the in-plane texture in short-length static-mode samples are presented, along with preliminary results of long-length samples deposited under translating conditions.