Growth and properties of YBCO-coated conductors fabricated by inclined-substrate deposition

YBCO-coated conductors with high current-carrying capability are desirable for electric power transmission applications. Inclined-substrate deposition (ISD) is capable of producing high-quality biaxially textured template films, which are important for fabrication of YBCO-coated conductors. We have grown biaxially textured ISD-MgO template films on flexible metallic substrates at deposition rates of 2-10 nm/sec. Columnar grains with a roof-tile-shaped surface structure were observed on the ISD-MgO films. X-ray pole figure analysis revealed that the ISD-MgO film is biaxially textured and its c-axis is titled at an angle from the substrate normal. Strontium ruthenium oxide (SRO) buffer films were epitaxially grown on ISD-MgO by pulsed laser deposition prior to the deposition of YBCO. Low φ-scan full-width at half maximum (FWHM) values of 6° and 7° were observed for YBCO and SRO, respectively. T_c of 91 K with a sharp transition and transport J_c over 1.4 MA/cm² at 77 K in self-field were measured on YBCO coated conductors grown with ISD MgO architectures using a SRO buffer.