Non-magnetic substrates for low cost YBCO coated conductors

CuNiAl and NiCr alloys were made and processed to non-magnetic, bi-axially textured substrates. Epitaxial YSZ and YBCO were deposited by pulsed laser deposition on the CuNiAl. Samples were cross sectioned and investigated with TEM. It appears that Al forms a thin oxide layer at the CuNiAl surface that acts as a template for the subsequent YSZ layer. The 1.2 /spl mu/m YBCO layer had a current density of 0.16 MA/cm/sup 2/ at 75 K and self field. On the NiCr substrates an Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/ seed layer was deposited with E-beam evaporation, followed by RF sputter deposition of YSZ and a CeO/sub 2/ cap layer. These substrates were coated with a 0.4 /spl mu/m YBCO layer using a trifluoroacetate solution, a very cost effective metal-organic deposition process. These samples carried critical currents exceeding 0.7 MA/cm/sup 2/ at 77 K, self field.