Deposition and Characterization of Metal Propionate Derived Epitaxial ${\rm YBa}_{2}{\rm Cu}_{3}{\rm O}_{7-{\rm x}}$ Films for Coated Conductor Fabrication

A new modified TFA-MOD method for the YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x (YBCO) deposition, using only barium trifluoroacetate, is presented. The yttrium and copper trifluoroacetates were replaced by the alcoholic solutions of Cu and Y acetates dispersed in propionic acid to prepare a stable coating solution. Due to the smaller amount of evolved hydrofluoric acid, this method permits the shortening of the pyrolysis time by a factor 4, with respect to conventional trifluoroacetate metal organic deposition (TFA-MOD) method. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, performed on a pyrolyzed sample, showed the complete decomposition of precursors. The as obtained films exhibit good morphological, structural and superconducting properties with T _c(R = 0) greater than 90 K. Transport measurements at different temperatures and applied magnetic fields have revealed promising superconducting properties of the critical current density (J _c) vs. the applied magnetic fields and the value of J _c at 77 K and zero magnetic field greater than 3 MA/cm².