Comprehensive study of epitaxial (Nd,Eu,Gd)Ba₂Cu₃O7−δ films grown on textured templates

We report the successful epitaxial growth and comprehensive study of structural and superconducting properties of (Nd,Eu,Gd)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ films with a thickness of up to 1.2 μm prepared by on-axis pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO 3 (STO) single crystals as well as on ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) and rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS)-based metal templates. X-ray diffraction demonstrates the epitaxial quality of the grown films on both single crystalline substrates and metal-based templates. In addition, no significant changes in surface morphology were found with increasing thickness for films on all types of substrates. On all substrates, a T c value of about 89 K was observed, however, significant inhomogeneities indicating small superconducting volume were found for all films on STO. In general, the best transport characteristics over a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures were observed for thicker films on IBAD-MgO and RABiTS templates, respectively. The J c values for the films on IBAD-MgO templates are comparable to YBCO films, whereas the films on RABiTS and especially on STO showed much lower J c . A maximum pinning force of about 7 GN/m 3 at 65 K was found for the 900 nm thick films on IBAD-MgO template. In addition, the pinning mechanism seems to depend on both temperature and type of substrate.