Growth and BZO-doping of the nanostructured YBCO thin films on buffered metal substrates

Abstract The growth of the nanostructured YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6+ x (YBCO) films is investigated for the first time on biaxially textured NiW substrates used in coated conductor technology. The optimization process of superconducting layers is made in wide magnetic field and temperature range in order to understand the vortex pinning structure and mechanism in our films prepared from nanostructured material. Structural analysis shows that growth mechanism in YBCO films grown on NiW is completely different when compared to YBCO on STO. Films on NiW are much rougher, there is huge in-plane variation of YBCO crystals and moreover out-of-plane long range lattice ordering is greatly reduced. Magnetic measurements demonstrate that j c in films grown on NiW is higher in high magnetic fields and low temperatures. This effect is connected to the amount of pinning centres observed in films on metal substrates which are effective at low temperature range.