High-Jc YBa2Cu3O7-x-Ag superconducting thin films synthesized through a fluorine-free MOD method

Abstract Obtaining a high critical current density ( J c ) remains the main challenge in developing fluorine-free metal organic deposition (MOD) methods to fabricate YBCO superconducting thin films. Silver addition was used to raise the J c values in this research work. By reacting with propionic acid and ammonia, AgNO 3 was initially mixed with YBCO carboxylate precursors dissolved in methanol. High-temperature in situ XRD measurements on the YBCO-Ag powders revealed that silver addition lowers the incongruent melting temperature of YBCO to 760 °C and resulted in a smooth surface morphology of the YBCO films at a temperature as low as 760 °C. Grain growth and intergranular conductivity were also found to be improved by silver doping. After annealing under optimized conditions, a high J c of 4.6 MA/cm 2 was obtained in a YBCO-Ag thin film with 10 wt% Ag.