Preparation and properties of Y1−xHoxBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films by TFA-MOD method

Y1−xHoxBa2Cu3O7−δ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) thin films were prepared on LaAlO3 (0 0 1) substrates by trifluoroacetate metal organic deposition (TFA-MOD) without change of the processing parameters. The highest Jc was attributed to the sample of Y0.6Ho0.4Ba2Cu3O7−δ thin film, whose critical current density is about 1.6 times as compared to that of YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin film at 77 K and self field. The flux pinning type was not varied with Ho substitution and can be attributed to δl pinning model, which is attributed to the close ionic radius between the Y3+ and Ho3+ ions. The improvement of Jc by Ho substitution without change of the processing parameters will provide an effective route to enhance the Jc of YBCO-based thin films using TFA-MOD method.

► Y1−xHoxBCO thin films were prepared by TFA-MOD.
► The best performances were obtained for the Y0.6Ho0.4BCO thin film.
► The pinning mechanism was δl-type for all derived thin films.