Fabrication of IBAD-MgO and PLD-CeO2 Layers for YBCO Coated Conductors

MgO thin films with different textures are fabricated by the ion beam assisted （IBAD） method on the Y2O3/Al2O3 buffered C276 tape. Then a CaO2 layer is directly grown on the IBAD-MgO film by the pulsed laser deposition （PLD） method. Effects of lBAD-MgO texture, substrata temperature and thickness on the grain alignment of the CeO2 layer are investigated. Film characterization is performed by x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. It is found that the orientation and texture degree of the CaO2 layer are very sensitive to the IBAD-MgO texture. By optimizing the IBAD-MgO texture, CeO2 has pure （002） orientation and excellent biaxial texture deposited in a broad substrata temperature range. In addition, the PLD-CeO2 layer has a thickness effect. Under the optimized experimental condition, the PLD-CeO2 layer has a high in-plane texture of △φ = 2.9° and a smooth surface with an rms surface roughness of less than 2nm. The critical current density Jc of a 0.4μm-thick YBCO film deposited on the CeO2 layer is 6.25 × 106 A/cm2 at 77K and a self-field.