Characterization of YBa2Cu3O7-δ films grown on NiO buffer layer by liquid-phase epitaxy process

By means of a liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) process, superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) thick film is grown on a biaxially textured NiO buffer layer which is pulsed-laser deposited on a (0 0 1) surface of SrTiO3 single crystal. Employment of BaF2-added Ba-Cu-O flux is found to be effective for LPE-YBCO growth because the growth temperature of YBCO is drastically lowered down to 900-920 degreesC compared to the case of usually used simple Ba-Cu-O flux. This strongly suggests that the low-temperature LPE growth of YBCO on a NiO/Ni substrate is hopeful process for coated-conductor production. Superconductivity transition temperature (T-c) of the LPE-YBCO film is measured to be 91 K for onset and 87 K for a zero-resistance state. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.