Magnetic and structural characterization of inkjet-printed TFAYBa2Cu3O7−x/MODCZO/ABADYSZ/SS coated conductors

The superconductor industry is demanding new methodologies to manufacture km-long, high quality coated conductors at high growth rates, using cost-effective, scalable processes. We report on the fabrication by an all-chemical deposition method of highly textured, thick (0.9 μm) inkjet-printed YBCO films, using a Ce0.9Zr0.1O2 (CZO) capping layer deposited by MOD, on top of robust, buffered ABADYSZ/SS substrates. Thinner, 0.25 μm spin-coated YBCO films were also analyzed for comparison. The structural study performed by x-ray diffraction, optical, AFM, SEM and TEM microscopy demonstrates the success of the capping layer for enhancing the planarity of the as-received tape and obtaining highly homogeneous and well-textured YBCO films. DC magnetometry granularity analysis was used to determine the mean superconducting grain diameter, ∼2.5 μm, and the intra- and intergranular critical current densities of the coated conductors (CCs). For the thin, spin-coated sample, high self-field intragrain critical currents were measured (JcG=4 0, 3.3 MA cm−2 at 5, 77 K). For the thick, inkjet-printed tape JcG was reduced by ∼30%, but, notably, the percolative critical current, JcGB=1 2.5 MA cm-2, was only ∼10% smaller at 5 K, thanks to good preservation of the texture. At 77 K, JcGB=1.3 MA cm-2 was achieved, implying a critical current of Ic = 117 A/cm-width. AC susceptibility measurements allowed us to demonstrate the high homogeneity of the fabricated CCs, and investigate the magnetic vortex-pinning phase diagram. Remarkably, the thick, inkjet-printed sample showed comparable irreversibility line (IL) and activation energy for thermal depinning, Ue(H), to the thin sample. The present results open new perspectives for the fabrication of high quality-to-cost ratio, all-chemical CCs with yet higher Ic values by inkjet printing multideposition of thicker YBCO layers. (paper)