Characterization of a Cube Textured Cu2O Buffer Layer on Cu Tapes for YBCO Coated Conductors

YBa₂Cu₃O_X (YBCO) coated conductors have been fabricated on cube textured Cu or Cu-based alloy substrates using various buffer layers such as CeO₂, ZrO₂, etc. Fabrication of buffer layers on Cu substrates using surface-oxidation epitaxy (SOE) has the potential to reduce the process complexibility and make the coated conductor more cost effective. In this work, we fabricated cube textured Cu₂O as a component buffer layer by thermal oxidation of cube textured Cu(200) substrates. A biaxially-aligned textured Cu₂O layer was obtained for 1 min oxidation in air at 1000degC. Texture analysis was performed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Microstructural characteristics of the layer were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results suggested that the Cu₂O can be a promising buffer layer for YBCO coated conductors from the viewpoint of the simplification of the process.