Effect of Ni Layer Thickness on Cu-Based {100} Textured Substrate for Coated Conductor

We prepared substrates with the structure electroplated Ni/textured Cu/stainless steel (SS) and clarified the effect of the electroplated Ni layer thickness on the substrate performance by investigating the dependences of the degree of crystal orientation and the surface roughness on the Ni layer thickness. It was confirmed that the orientation of the Ni layer did not significantly change up to a thickness of 10 µm; however, the surface roughness of the Ni layer decreased when the layer thickness exceeded 3 µm. From these results, in order to achieve a high critical current density ( J c ) on a Cu substrate, it is suggested that the preferred maximum thickness of the Ni layer on the textured Cu should be approximately 3 µm. In addition, the possibility of broad availability for the coating process was investigated by estimating the Cu concentration on the surface of a 3-µm-thick Ni layer.