In order to achieve further lower substrate temperature (Ts) of YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) thin films for coated conductor applications, a low-temperature growth-II technique was developed. In the low-temperature growth-II technique, a c-axis oriented (Yb1−xNdx)Ba2Cu3Oy thin layer was deposited onto MgO substrate as a seed layer at low Ts and then YBCO layer was fabricated on the seed layer at the same Ts. As a result, it was found that the low-temperature growth-II YBCO thin films exhibited complete c-axis orientation at lower Ts than that for obtaining c-axis oriented pulsed laser deposited YBCO thin films by 15C, and exhibited a high Jc. The orientation mechanism of the low-temperature growth-II YBCO thin film was explained by using a simple nucleation model.

Enhancement of Dislocation Density in YBa2Cu3Oy Thin Films Prepared by Low Temperature Growth Technique. S.Funaki, Y.Yoshida, Y.Ichino, M.Miura, Y.Takai, K.Matsumoto, A.Ichinose, M.Mukaida, S.Horii: Physica C, 2007, 463-465, 644-8