A new technique for the growth of epitaxial YBCO using spray pyrolysis

摘要

A new technique for the growth of epitaxial c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7 using spray pyrolysis at atmospheric pressure is described. The technique consists of three steps: the deposition of an oxide precursor by spray pyrolysis of a nitrate solution, fluorination of the oxide precursor in an atmosphere containing a fluorinated gas, and finally, growth of YBa2Cu3O7 by the conventional ex situ process. The microstructure of both the oxide and fluorinated precursor is described along with data on the rate of fluorination. We have routinely achieved critical currents of 0.5 MA/cm(2) for 1 mum thick films at 77 K in self-field. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.