High critical current density of YBCO coated conductors fabricated by inclined substrate deposition q B. Ma a, * , R.E. Koritala a , B.L. Fisher a , K.K. Uprety a , R. Baurceanu a , S.E. Dorris a , D.J. Miller b , P. Berghuis b , K.E. Gray b , U. Balachandran a a Energy Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Building 212, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA b Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA Received 28 October 2003; accepted 26 November 2003 Abstract Inclined substrate deposition (ISD) has great potential for rapid production of high-quality template layers for YBCO-coated conductors. We have grown biaxially textured magnesium oxide (MgO) films on metallic substrates by ISD at deposition rates, 20–100  A/s. Scanning electron microscopy of the ISD MgO films showed columnar grain structures with a roof-tile-shaped surface. X-ray diffraction and pole figure analysis revealed that the c-axis of the ISD MgO is tilted at an angle with respect to the substrate normal. A full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 10° was observed in the /-scan for MgO films. Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and ceria (CeO 2 ) buffer layers were epitaxially grown on ISD MgO by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) prior to YBCO deposition by PLD. The YBCO films grown on YSZ/CeO 2 buffered ISD MgO substrates were biaxially aligned with the YBCO c-axis normal to the substrate surface. A critical current density of J c > 1:2  10 6 A/cm 2 was measured at 77 K in self-field. Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 74.72.Bk; 74.76.Bz; 81.15.)z Keywords: YBCO thin film; Coated conductor; Inclined-substrate deposition; Pulsed laser deposition 1. Introduction The second-generation YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7d (YBCO)- coated conductor offers great promise for high- current carrying wires and other electric power devices operating at temperatures that approach liquid nitrogen [1–3]. Textured template films or buffer layers are needed for deposition of biaxially aligned YBCO films to overcome the weak links at high-angle grain boundaries and, therefore, to achieve high critical current density ðJ c Þ in the YBCO films deposited on polycrystalline metallic substrates [4]. Several techniques, including ion- beam-assisted deposition (IBAD), rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates (RABiTS), and in- clined-substrate deposition (ISD), have been q This work is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, as part of a program to develop electric power technology, under contract W-31-109-Eng-38. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-630-252-9961; fax: +1-630- 252-3604. E-mail address: bma@anl.gov (B. Ma). 0921-4534/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.physc.2003.11.018 Physica C 403 (2004) 183–190 www.elsevier.com/locate/physc