The full-solution method has been developed as a low-cost process for making
YBa2Cu3O7−x
(YBCO) coated conductors. In this study, highly biaxially textured
CeO2
buffer layers have been fabricated on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single-crystal
substrates by the sol–gel method using inorganic cerium nitrate as the starting precursor
material. High-quality superconducting YBCO film has also been fabricated on
CeO2-buffered YSZ substrate by the trifluoroacetate metal–organic
deposition (TFA-MOD) method. For YBCO superconducting film, only
(00l)
diffraction peaks can be detected by x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Also from the
XRD analysis, the YBCO films show sharp in-plane and out-of-plane texture
for all samples, which indicates that the YBCO film is epitaxially grown on the
CeO2
buffer layer. From scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations, the YBCO
film shows a uniform surface structure. A critical transition temperature,
Tc 0, of 91 K and a critical current density of
3 MA cm−2 (77 K, self-field)
were obtained for a 0.2 µm
thick YBCO film on CeO2-buffered YSZ substrate.