Field dependence of superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7−δ films on Hastelloy substrates

Abstract We have investigated the E – J characteristics and resistive transition of a YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ (YBCO) film deposited onto polycrystalline Hastelloy with a biaxially aligned yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer. The field dependence of the critical current and the irreversibility line are presented for both cases when the field is aligned parallel and perpendicular to the ab -planes. The critical current in zero field at 77.7 K is 8×10 4 A/cm 2 and has a value of 0.6×10 4 A/cm 2 at 6 T with the field parallel to the ab -planes. The E – J characteristics at 77.7 K for fields parallel to the c -axis display a `glass-like' transition. The angular dependence of the behaviour suggests that both intrinsic pinning and pinning by the twin planes or low angle grain boundaries play an important role.