Effect of temperature and film thickness on residual stress and texture of Rr₂O₃ buffer layers for YBCO coated conductor

Re₂O₃ (Re = Er, Gd, Ho, Y and Yb) was prepared by sol-gel synthesis using metal-organic precursors. Residual stress and microstructure in the Re₂O₃ buffer layers were investigated as a function of temperature and film thickness. Textured Re ₂O₃ buffer layers were grown on biaxially textured-Ni (100) substrates using chemical solution deposition. Films were annealed at 1150°C under a flowing 4 % H₂ - Ar gas. X-ray diffraction of the buffers showed strong out-of-plane orientation on Ni tape. Residual stress in various thicknesses of buffer layers was calculated. The surface morphologies and microstructure of all samples were characterized using SEM and AFM. &copy: 2009 IEEE.