Nucleation of epitaxial yttria-stabilized zirconia on biaxially textured (001) Ni for deposited conductors

The nucleation of (001)-oriented yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) directly on the (001) Ni surface is realized via nucleation on an oxygen-terminated nickel surface using pulsed-laser deposition. Under conditions where the nickel surface is either oxygen free or substantially covered with NiO, a mixed orientation of YSZ occurs. The epitaxial YSZ layer grown on a biaxially textured Ni(001) surface was used as a single buffer layer for a high temperature superconducting coated conductor architecture, yielding superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O₇ films with high critical current densities, J_c. This architecture eliminates the necessity for a multilayer buffer architecture, since high J_c superconducting films are achieved with no intermediate buffer layer between the (001) YSZ and the biaxially textured metal.