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The role of diethanolamine (DEA) as a chelating agent was investigated in a fluorine-free precursor solution for the growth of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films via chemical solution deposition. Infrared spectroscopy and thermal analyses were employed to elucidate the interactions between the chelating agent and propionate-based coating solution. The physical properties of the as-obtained YBCO films were investigated to assess the effect of DEA addition on film growth. Special emphasis was placed on the determination of superconducting transport properties. These have been investigated in wide magnetic field (0-18 T) and temperature (4.5-77 K) ranges to account for various possible application scenarios. The 100 nm thick YBCO film deposited on a (001) SrTiO3 single-crystal substrate exhibited a critical current density of 4 MA cm-2 at 77 K in self-field., This work was carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom program 2014–2018 and 2019–2020 under Grant Agreement No. 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. A D acknowledges the financial support of the 'Entrepreneurial skills and research excellence in doctoral and postdoctoral programs -ANTREDOC'—POCU/380/6/13/123927 project. M N and T P Jr acknowledge the financial support of a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1777, within PNCDI III., With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).

YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) nanocomposites for wire applications need to operate in a broad range of frequencies, ranging from dc in magnets to GHz in cavities and screenings of future particle accelerators. We have investigated the in-field and angular vortex pinning performance in dc and at 50 GHz of two types of nanocomposites, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) YBCO with mixed Ba2YNbO6 + Ba2YTaO6 (BYNTO) nanorods and chemical solution deposited (CSD) YBCO with BaHfO3 (BHO) nanoparticles (NPs), and the pristine counterpart films, grown on top of single-crystalline substrates. Transport measurements performed up to 9 T between 5 and 77 K show that CSD nanocomposites exhibit a smooth field decay and increased single-to-collective crossover field H* compared to pristine samples, associated to the enhanced isotropic pinning contribution induced by the NPs, while PLD films exhibit unchanged H* and superior critical current densities up to higher irreversibility fields, associated to the anisotropic contribution introduced by the rods. Microwave in-field measurements of the pinning constant kp revealed CSD NCs exhibit a qualitatively similar, but smoother kp(H) than pristine samples, whereas for PLD samples, a growing kp(H) dependence is observed as a result of the increased relevance of the stiffness of the fluxons pinned by nanorods., This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2014–2018 and 2019–2020 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. We acknowledge financial support from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496), SUMATE project RTI2018-095853-B-C21, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund, COST-Nanocohybri CA16218, DWARFS project (MAT2017-83468-R) and Catalan Government with 2017-SGR-1519 and XRE4S.

Cable-in-conduit conductors comprised of twisted stacks of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes constitute a very promising technology by virtue of their easy manufacturing process, flexibility capabilities, and high current densities. In a cable, the current distribution among tapes is one of the key parameters affecting the cable performances. The distribution of current is affected mainly by the self-field configuration (ultimately related to the cable layout) and the termination resistances. In this paper we present a 2D finite element (FE) model, based on the T-A formulation, which computes the magnetic field and current distribution in stacked tapes. This model has been used to describe the experimental V–I results obtained in cables in which different current distributions among tapes are expected. The first case refers to V–I curves of stacks of HTS tapes inserted into ducts formed in the extruded aluminium cylindrical core for a straight cable. The excellent agreement between the experimental findings and the simulation results can be explained in terms of uniform current distribution within the tapes stack, up to the superconducting to normal transition. The second sample, an Al-slotted core Cable-In-Conduit-Conductor, has been bent down to a radius of 0.15 m, and from the measured V–I characteristic of each individual tape, a different tape degradation depending on the tape position within the stack was recorded. The model is able to reconstruct the V–I of the stacks from the characteristic curves of the individual tapes with a satisfactory agreement. The finite element analysis reveals non-uniform current distribution among the tapes, which could expose the cable to a potentially irreversible damage during operation. The proposed FE model constitutes a useful tool for the analysis and predictions of HTS CIC conductor performances and represents a suitable basis for the implementation of more complex models aimed at the design of specific and large applications of this conductor in the next future.

In this paper we study the feasibility of Fe(Se, Te) coated conductors on a simple rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS) template. Starting from commercially available Ni-5 at% W tapes which show an out-of-plane orientation of about 7° and an in-plane orientation around 5°, we realized a RABiTS template for Fe(Se, Te) coated conductor fabrication by depositing CeO2 thin films on the metallic tape. The oxide buffer layers, deposited via pulsed laser ablation, exhibit an out-of-plane and an in-plane orientation suitable for Fe(Se, Te) deposition and act as a chemical barrier against Ni diffusion. Fe(Se, Te) thin films deposited on such a simple template show a superconducting transition at 16 K and very high upper critical field values with a ΔT c,0 of only 3 K in 18 T. The transport critical current reaches values of 1.7 × 105 A cm-2 at 4.2 K in self-field and is reduced by less than one order of magnitude up to 18 T, remaining isotropic with respect to the magnetic field direction.

The critical current density Jc as a function of the temperature T, magnetic field intensity H and angle ? between the direction of applied magnetic field and the c-axis of the samples was measured on epitaxial 10?at.% Ca-substituted YBa2Cu3O7?? (YCBCO) thin films grown by the pulsed laser deposition technique on (001)-SrTiO3 (STO) and CeO2 buffered r-cut Al2O3 (CAO) substrates. Films exhibited comparable values of critical temperature (Tc~78?K) while higher self-field Jc values for SrTiO3 were observed. Dissipation regimes related to growth boundary and intra-grain pinning mechanisms showed a qualitatively similar contribution for YCBCO films deposited on both substrates when the applied magnetic field direction is parallel to the c-axis (? = 0?). However, a weaker efficiency of pinning related to growth boundaries as well as a wider field range where this dissipation mechanism is active were observed for films grown on CeO2-buffered sapphire. These films exhibited a broad peak centred at ? = 0? in the Jc versus angle behaviour, not observed using a SrTiO3 substrate. The analysis of the Jc(H) dependences collected at ? = 90? revealed that this feature can be partially ascribed to a dramatic decrease of the intrinsic pinning efficiency.

The realization of YBCO-based coated conductors with high critical current density involves the deposition of highly biaxially textured YBCO films. The use of epitaxial growth shifts this requirement to the template used for YBCO deposition. In the rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS) approach, an appropriately oriented template is provided by a cube-textured substrate. The development of a cube texture is the result of recrystallization occurring in a heavily deformed tape, which is activated by high-temperature annealing. In the case of Ni-based alloys, thermal treatment at temperatures ranging from 900 to 1150??C for at least 30?min is commonly used. The determination of the minimum conditions for thermal treatments in terms of temperature?time involved in the recrystallization process is therefore of practical interest. In this work, Ni?5 at.% W alloy has been studied as a substrate for YBCO-coated conductors. 100??m thick tapes have been obtained through heavy cold rolling, followed by annealing in high vacuum. Different thermal treatments with rates of 20??C?min?1 have been performed in order to study the formation and the evolution of the cube texture. Moreover, the annealing time has been varied in order to inspect the thermal stability of the substrate microstructure at the relatively high deposition temperature of YBCO films. It is found that the substrate begins recrystallizing at 700??C and that the cube texture is fully developed at temperatures higher than 800??C, while annealing at 900??C for 1?h produces a stable microstructure at the typical YBCO deposition conditions.

The epitaxial growth of YBCO films both on (001) SrTiO3 (STO) and Ni-W biaxially textured metallic substrates prepared by metal-organic deposition (MOD) using a trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) solution is reported. The degree of epitaxy of the YBCO films was investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The as deposited films exhibit good morphological and structural properties. The ω-scan of the YBCO films grown on (001) SrTiO3 single crystal substrate and on Pd/CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 buffered biaxially textured Ni-5at%W (Ni-W) tapes has a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.12° and 3.4°, respectively. The -scan of (113) peak of YBCO film grown on Ni-W substrate has FWHM of 6.1°. The YBCO/STO film has a zero resistance critical temperature of Tc(R = 0) = 92 K and a critical current density Jc > 2 MA/cm2 at 77 K and in zero magnetic field.

High critical current density YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) coated conductors were obtained on cube textured Ni-W. The use of a Pd transient layer as a first buffer led to a sharp out-of-plane grains alignment of the CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 buffer layer. YBCO films grown on this template exhibit an out-of-plane orientation with a full width at half maximum of about 3°, less than 50% of the respective starting Ni-W value. Despite the complete interdiffusion between Ni-W and Pd after the YBCO film deposition, the coated conductors exhibit good film adherence as well as a crack free and smooth surface of the YBCO film. YBCO thin films show critical temperature values above than 88 K and a critical current density of 2.1 MA/cm2 at 77 K and self field.

It is well known that the recrystallization texture of heavily cold-rolled pure copper is almost completely cubic. However, one of the main drawbacks concerning the use of pure copper cube-textured substrates for YBCO coated conductor is the reduced secondary recrystallization temperature. The onset of secondary recrystallization (i.e., the occurrence of abnormal grains with unpredictable orientation) in pure copper substrate was observed within the typical temperature range required for buffer layer and YBCO processing (600-850 °C). To avoid the formation of abnormal grains the effect of both grain size adjustment (GSA) and recrystallization annealing was analyzed. The combined use of a small initial grain size and a recrystallization two-step annealing (TSA) drastically reduced the presence of abnormal grains in pure copper tapes. Another way to overcome the limitation imposed by the formation of abnormal grains is to deposit a buffer layer at temperatures where secondary recrystallization does not occur. For example, La2Zr2O7 (LZO) film with a high degree of epitaxy was grown by metal-organic decomposition (MOD) at 1000 °C on pure copper substrate. In several samples the substrate underwent secondary recrystallization. Our experiments indicate that the motion of grain boundaries occurring during secondary recrystallization process does not affect the quality of LZO film.

We report on the field dependence of the microwave complex resistivity data in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$/BaZrO$_3$ films grown by PLD at various BaZrO$_3$ content. The data, analyzed within a recently developed general framework for the mixed-state microwave response of superconductors, yield the field dependence of the fluxon parameters such as the vortex viscosity and the pinning constant. We find that pinning undergoes a change of regime when the BaZrO$_3$ content in the target increases from 2.5 mol.% to 5 mol.%. Simultaneously, the vortex viscosity becomes an increasing function of the applied magnetic field. We propose a scenario in which flux lines are pinned as bundles, and a crossover from dilute point pins to dense c-axis correlated defects takes place between 2.5 and 5 mol.% in the BZO concentration. Our data are inconsistent with vortices occupying mainly the BaZrO$_3$ sites at low fields, and suggest instead that vortices occupy both BaZrO$_3$ sites and interstitials in the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ matrix, even at low fields.

We present measurements of the magnetic field dependent microwave surface resistance in laser-ablated YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ films on SrTiO$_3$ substrates. BaZrO$_3$ crystallites were included in the films using composite targets containing BaZrO$_3$ inclusions with mean grain size smaller than 1 $\mu$m. X-ray diffraction showed single epitaxial relationship between BaZrO$_3$ and YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$. The effective surface resistance was measured at 47.7 GHz for 60$< T, Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 4 figures, uses jpconf.cls and jpconf11.clo class files, talk given at EUCAS 2007, submitted to J. Phys.: Conf. Series

NiCuCo alloy tape was studied as textured substrates for YBCO coated conductors application. The addition of a small amount of cobalt was pursued in order to enhance the microstructure of the NiCu alloy. The use of different thermal treatments during the recrystallization process permitted to obtain area densities of cube orientation as high as 95%. The substrate was thoroughly characterized by means of x-ray diffraction, EBSD and SEM analyses. Further, the mechanical properties and the magnetic behaviour of this substrate have been investigated and compared with those exhibited by Ni, NiW and NiCu tapes. The suitability of this alloy substrate for YBCO coated conductors has been tested through the deposition of a conventional CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 buffer layer architecture using a Pd transient layer. Apart from passivating Ni-Cu-Co substrate, the use of a Pd transient layer produces a relevant texture sharpening in the out-of-plane orientation and the full width at half maximum of the ?-scan drops from about 9° of NiCuCo to 2° of Pd layer. This sharp texture is transferred to the YBCO film and the results indicate that NiCuCo alloy is a promising alternative substrate for the realization of YBCO coated conductors.

This work reports on the preparation of a BaZrO3 (BZO) nanopowder by the chemical decomposition of an oxalate precursor starting from barium acetate and zirconium oxychloride. The X-ray peak profile analyses and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have indicated that the mean powder size ranges from 30nm to 340 nm for the thermal treatment temperature varying from 700°C to 1200°C, respectivelly. The as prepared powder has been used to manufacture YBCO-5 mol. % BZO composite targets from which epitaxial YBCO thin films on (100)SrTiO3 substrate were ablated. The X-ray analysis have revealed that the BZO nanoislands are epitaxially grown throughout the YBCO film, having the same epitaxial relationship as YBCO. Moreover, as revealed by SEM, the presence of BZO considerably improves the morphology of the YBCO film. The critical temperature (Tc) registered a slight decrease with the BZO concentration. Nevertheless, the BZO addition resulted in an improvement of the critical current density, Jc. The JcvsB curve exihibits a large plateau extended up to about 2.5 Tesla. The YBCO-BZO composite films showed pinning forces with a c-axis correlated character, as revealed by the angular behaviour of Jc.

Recently, many efforts have been dedicated to the development of a reliable technology for the introduction of artificial pinning sites in YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) films with the aim of improving the in-field Jc performances. One of the most effective technique resulted to be the inclusion of BaZrO3 (BZO) second phase embedded in the YBCO films. In this contribution we present Jc measurements on BZO-added YBCO films deposited on SrTiO3 (STO) and CeO2-buffered-Al2O3 (ALO) substrates. Samples were deposited by pulsed laser ablation technique using a composite YBCO + 5mol.% BZO target at the optimum conditions for fully oxygenated c-axis oriented YBCO films. Despite of a slight Tc reduction, BZO addition in YBCO-STO films resulted in an improvement of in-field performances with the appearance of a Jc plateau in the low field region which extends up to about 2.5 Tesla irrespective of the temperature at least in the investigated range (down to 65K). On the other hand, samples deposited on ALO did not exhibit any remarkable difference neither in the Jc value nor in the magnetic field dependences as compared with pure YBCO. The presence of 0° (magnetic field parallel to the c-axis) peaks in the Jc. angular behaviour revealed a c-axis correlated character of the pinning forces in BZO added YBCO films grown on both STO and ALO substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements and AFM investigations were carried out in order to determine the influence of BZO addition on films crystalline quality and microstructure.

A modified TFA-MOD method, using only barium trifluoroacetate, is presented. The yttrium and copper triflouroacetates were replaced by the alcoholic solutions of Cu and Y acetates dispersed in propionic acid. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal analyses (DTA/TG) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) and X-ray diffraction analyses were used to study the decomposition of the precursor. The method permits the shortening of the pyrolysis time by a factor 4, with respect to conventional TFA-MOD method, due to the smaller amount of evolved hydrofluoric acid. Using this method 600 nm thick YBCO films were grown both on (100)SrTiO3 and on CeO2/YSZ/CeO2/Pd buffered Ni-5at.%W substrates. The as obtained films exhibit good morphological, structural and superconducting properties with Tc (R=0) greater than 91K and with an out-of-plain texture of 0.240 and 1.90, respectively.

Pd films were deposited on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS) Ni?5?at.% W in order to exploit the Pd effect of the texture sharpening with respect to that of the substrate, for the development of YBa2Cu3O7?x (YBCO) coated conductors. The Pd sharpening effect was relevant in the out-of-plane direction where the reduction for the ?-scans' full width at half maximum (FWHM) ranged from 55 to 65%, depending on the substrate roughness. The obtained minimum values of the FWHM in the transverse rolling direction of the (002) Pd ?-scan and in the (111) Pd -scan were of about 2.5? and 5?, respectively. The CeO2/YSZ/CeO2 (YSZ is Y2O3-stabilised ZrO2) heterostructure of the buffer layer was developed by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). In order to transfer the sharp orientation of the Pd film, both the seed CeO2 layer and the YSZ layer were deposited at low temperatures (450??C), low enough to avoid Pd/Ni?W interdiffusion. The YBCO, films deposited by both PLD and metal-organic deposition (MOD) using metal trifluoroacetate acid (TFA), exhibited rolling direction (005) ?-scan and the (113) -scan FWHM values of about 2? and 5?, respectively. In spite of the complete interdiffusion between Ni and Pd during the YBCO film deposition, the coated conductors exhibit good adherence, as well as a smooth and crack-free surface. A zero-resistance critical temperature (TC0) of 90.8?K for the MOD-TFA YBCO films and critical current-density (JC) up to 2.2?MA?cm?2 at 77?K and self-field for PLD YBCO films have been obtained.