YBa₂Cu₃O_7-y-coated conductors with high engineering current density

Short segments of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-y (YBCO) coated conductors were fabricated on rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates (RABiTS) with a layer sequence of CeO₂/YSZ/Ni using an ex situ BaF₂ precursor process. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was used to deposit both YSZ and CeO₂ layers. The YBCO films were grown using e-beam coevaporated Y-BaF₂-Cu precursors followed by postannealing. An overall engineering current density, J_E, of 28,000 A/cm² and critical current, I_c, of 147 A/cm width at 77 K were achieved for a 1.6-μm-thick YBCO film. This result demonstrates the possibility of using both the ex situ BaF₂ precursor approach and the RABiTS process for producing long lengths of high-J_E coated conductors.