Inclined Substrate Deposition by Evaporation of Magnesium Oxide for Coated Conductors

Abstract

AbstractBiaxially textured MgO buffer layers were deposited on metal substrates using “inclined substrate deposition” (ISD). The influence of the substrate inclination angle, deposition rate, and film thickness on the texture is shown. Scanning electron microscopy reveals columnar growth. We developed a growth model to explain the texturing. To test this model we have carried out 3D Monte-Carlo simulations. We find that the preferred orientation arises from mutual shadowing of the columns and directional surface diffusion due to their initial momentum.YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) films deposited on the ISD buffer layers are highly textured. The ab-planes of the YBCO are tilted with respect to the surface by typically 25° towards the direction of MgO vapor incidence. Therefore, the critical current density jc is anisotropic with up to 8 × 105 MA/cm2 in one direction and 4 × 105 MA/cm2 in the other. For tape coating the MgO deposition direction can be chosen so that the high jc is along the tape.