SUBSTRATE CHARACTERISTICS OF Ba2HoNbO6 FOR THE FABRICATION OF LaBaCaCu3O7-δ SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS

Abstract

We have synthesized and studied the characteristics of Ba 2 HoNbO 6 (BHNO) substrates for the fabrication of LaBaCaCu 3 O 7-δ (LBCCO) superconducting films. BHNO has an A 2 BB'O 6 complex cubic perovskite structure with lattice constant a = 8, 439 Å. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis shows that BHNO is free from impurity traces and scanning electron micrographs reveal that it has uniform surface morphology and particle size distribution. Based on the doubling of the ABO 3 cubic perovskite unit cell, (1/2)a = 4, 220 Å, BHNO has fairly good lattice matching (lattice mismatch ~ 9%) with LBCCO superconductors. X-ray diffractometry, back-scattered scanning electron microscopy and magnetic measurements effectuated on BHNO/LBCCO composites show that BHNO is chemically and physically compatible and it could be used as a potential substrate material for the growth of LBCCO superconducting films.