Pulsed laser deposition of c-axis untilted YBCO films on c-axis tilted ISD MgO-buffered metallic substrates

Biaxially textured MgO template layer was deposited on nontextured metal substrates by inclined-substrate deposition (ISD) at a deposition rate of 24-600 nm/min. c-axis untilted YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) films were deposited on these MgO-buffered substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The crystalline structures of the YBCO films and MgO layers were examined by X-ray pole figure analysis, X-ray phi-scans, and chi-scans. A tilt angle of 33degrees of the MgO[0 0 1] with respect to the substrate normal and c-axis untilted YBCO films were observed, respectively. Good biaxial texture of these films with full-width-at-half-maximum values of 13.8degrees and 10.6degrees for the phi-scans of YBCO(1 0 3) and MgO(2 2 0), respectively, were obtained. Morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy, which revealed a unique roof-tile feature and columnar grain growth for the ISD MgO layer. Raman spectroscopy and magneto-optical image technique were also used to evaluate the quality of the YBCO film. An angular dependence of J(c) on the direction of an applied magnetic field confirmed the c-axis untilted orientation of the YBCO films. T-c = 90 K with sharp transition and J(c) = 3.0 x 10degrees A/cm(2) at 77 K in zero field were obtained on 0.4-mum-thick YBCO films. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.