A Comprehensive Characterization of Commercial Pulsed Laser Deposited Coated Conductors

Comprehensive understanding is needed in order for the commercial pulsed laser deposited REBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (RE: rare earth) coated conductors to be effectively used in the magnet and cable designs. Here we demonstrate the superconducting property characterization and microstructural analysis to show how different or similar the 3 commercial REBCO coated conductors are at present. Our work shows that the ab-plane of REBCO tilts from the coated conductor tape plane, leading to the offset of critical current density peak from the tape plane. In particular, the offset angle varies from less than 0.5° for one coated conductor to close to 5° for another. RE₂O₃ nanoparticles are dominant pins at 20 K and 15 T. The weak pinning introduced by RE₂O₃ particles and cation disorders contribute to critical current density at 20 K as well.