Reel-to-reel fabrication of meter-long YBCO coated conductor

YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) superconductors were coated on the CeO2/YSZ/Y2O3 buffered Ni-5at%W tapes by a reel-to-reel pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The process of a multi-layer deposition of YBCO film was explored. X-ray diffraction texture measurements showed good both in-plane and out of plane crystalline orientations in YBCO films. The average values calculated at a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the peaks from phi-scans (φ) and omega (ω) scans for one meter-long YBCO tape were 7.49° and 4.71°, respectively. The critical current (Ic) was over 200 A/cm-width at 77 K and under self-field for meter-long YBCO tape. The critical transition temperature of the YBCO tape was typically as 90.1 K with 0.5 K transition widths.

Research highlights
► A reel to reel PLD process for YBCO coated conductor with a home designed system.
► Highly textured YBCO films were successfully grown on meter-long tape.
► Ic was over 200 A/cm-width. Tc was 90.1 K with 0.5 K ΔT.