Aspects of the SrO-CuO-TiO<sub>2</sub> Ternary System Related to the Deposition of SrTiO<sub>3</sub> and Copper-Doped SrTiO<sub>3</sub> Thin-Film Buffer Layers

Abstract

YBa2Cu3O27-δ (YBCO) coated conductors are promising materials for large-scale superconductivity applications. One version of a YBCO coated conductor is based on ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) of magnesium oxide (MgO) onto polycrystalline metal substrates. SrTiO3 (STO) is often deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods as a buffer layer between the YBCO and IBAD MgO due to its chemical stability and lattice mismatch of only ~1.5% with YBCO. In this work, some aspects of the stability of STO with respect to copper (Cu) and chemical solution deposition of STO on IBAD MgO templates were examined. Solubility limits of Cu in STO were established by processing Cu-doped STO powders by conventional bulk preparation techniques. The maximum solubility of Cu in STO was ~1% as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Rietveld refinements of x-ray diffraction (XRD) data. XRD analysis, performed in collaboration with NIST, on powder compositions on the STO/SrCuO2 tie line did not identify any ternary phases. SrCu0.10T0.90Oy buffer layers were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and CSD on IBAD MgO flexible metallic textured tapes. TEM analysis of a ~100 nm thick SrCu0.10Ti0.90Oy buffer layer deposited by PLD showed a smooth Cu-doped STO/MgO interface. A ~600 nm thick YBCO film, deposited onto the SrCu0.10Ti0.90Oy buffer by PLD, exhibited a Tc of 87 K and critical current density (Jc) of ~1 MA/cm2. STO and Cu-doped STO thin films by CSD were ~30 nm thick. The in plane alignment (FWHM) after deposition of the STO improved by ~1° while it degraded by ~2° with the SrCu0.05TiOy buffer. YBCO was deposited by PLD on the STO and SrCu0.05TiOy buffers. The in plane alignment (FWHM) of the YBCO with the STO buffer layer slightly improved while that of the YBCO with the SrCu0.05TiOy buffer layer remained constant. A goal of the CSD approach to fabrication of coated conductors is process simplicity. In this study, single layer textured films were obtained without a nucleating seed layer that has been deemed necessary by several investigators. These results indicate that Cu-doped STO buffer layers deposited by PLD or CSD are compatible with IBAD MgO and YBCO and that CSD is a viable approach to coated conductor fabrication.