c-Axis orientation control of YBa2Cu3O7−x films grown on inclined-substrate-deposited MgO-buffered metallic substrates

Biaxially textured YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) films were grown on non-textured metal substrates with inclined-substrate-deposited (ISD) MgO as template. The biaxial texture feature of the films was examined by X-ray pole-figure analysis, φ-scan, and 2θ-scan. A tilt angle of 32° of the MgO[001] with respect to the substrate normal was observed. Epitaxial growth of YBCO films with c-axis tilt angle of 32° with respect to the substrate normal was obtained on these substrates with SrTiO3(STO) as buffer layer. Whereas, by choosing yttria-stabilized ZrO2 and CeO2 instead of STO as buffer layer, a c-axis untilted YBCO film was obtained. Higher values of Tc=91 K and Jc=5.5×105 A/cm2 were obtained on the c-axis untilted YBCO films with 0.46 μm thickness at 77 K in zero field. Comparative studies revealed a unique role of CeO2 in controlling the orientation of the YBCO films grown on ISD-MgO buffered metal substrates.