Nickel-copper alloy tapes as textured substrates for YBCO coated conductors

Abstract

NiCuCo alloy tape was studied as textured substrates for YBCO coated conductors application. The addition of a small amount of cobalt was pursued in order to enhance the microstructure of the NiCu alloy. The use of different thermal treatments during the recrystallization process permitted to obtain area densities of cube orientation as high as 95%. The substrate was thoroughly characterized by means of x-ray diffraction, EBSD and SEM analyses. Further, the mechanical properties and the magnetic behaviour of this substrate have been investigated and compared with those exhibited by Ni, NiW and NiCu tapes. The suitability of this alloy substrate for YBCO coated conductors has been tested through the deposition of a conventional CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 buffer layer architecture using a Pd transient layer. Apart from passivating Ni-Cu-Co substrate, the use of a Pd transient layer produces a relevant texture sharpening in the out-of-plane orientation and the full width at half maximum of the ?-scan drops from about 9° of NiCuCo to 2° of Pd layer. This sharp texture is transferred to the YBCO film and the results indicate that NiCuCo alloy is a promising alternative substrate for the realization of YBCO coated conductors. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.