A New Technique for the Growth of Epitaxial YBCO Using Spray Pyrolysis

Vyacheslav F. Solovyov,^a, Harold J. Wiesmann,^a Li-Jun Wu,^a Masaki Suenaga,^a Kartik Venkataraman,^b and Victor A. Maroni^b

^aDepartment of Materials Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 76 Cornell Avenue, Upton, NY 11973, USA ^bArgonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA

A new technique for the growth of epitaxial c-axis oriented YBa₂Cu₃O₇ using spray pyrolysis at atmospheric pressure is described. The technique consists of three steps: the deposition of an oxide precursor by spray pyrolysis of a nitrate solution, fluorination of the oxide precursor in an atmosphere containing a fluorinated gas, and finally, growth of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ by the conventional ex situ process. The microstructure of both the oxide and fluorinated precursor is described along with data on the rate of fluorination. We have routinely achieved critical currents of 0.5 MA/cm² for 1-μm-thick films at 77 K in self-field.

Copyright © 2004 Elsevier B.V.

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