High J/sub c/ YBCO thick films prepared by LPE method

High-J/sub c/ YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub y/ thick films were prepared by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) method. The growth rate was typically about 2 /spl mu/m/min, which was 10-10/sup 2/ times larger than that by conventional vapor growth techniques. The T/sub c/ of the best film exceeded 88 K after oxygen annealing, and the transport zero-field J/sub c/ was over 10/sup 5/ A/cm/sup 2/ at 77 K. The peak effect in J/sub c/-B characteristics was observed at several tesla by magnetic and transport measurements. Based on the micro-structure, the relevant peak effect is considered to be caused by stacking faults which act as a field induced pinning center.<
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