Deposition and Characterization of Metal Propionate Derived Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-x Films for Coated Conductor Fabrication

A new modified TFA-MOD method for the YBa2Cu3O7-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 Tc(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 (Jc) vs. the applied magnetic fields and the value of Jc at 77 K and zero magnetic field greater than 3 MA/cm2.