Influences of Ni–5 at.%W Alloy Substrates on the Epitaxial Growth and Surface Morphologies of CeO2 Films Deposited by PLD

• Published in: Journal of superconductivity and novel magnetism 2011-08, Vol.24 (6), p.1869-1875
• Main Authors: Zhu, Shengping, Liu, Linfei, Xu, Da, Liu, Huaran, Song, Xiaokun, Hong, Dan, Ying, Wang, Li, Yijie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BOUNDARIES; CERIUM ALLOYS (0 TO 50 CE); Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; COPPER OXIDE; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; CRYSTAL GROWTH; Epitaxial growth; EPITAXY; Exact sciences and technology; GRAIN BOUNDARIES; Grooves; High-tc films; Laser deposition; Magnetic Materials; Magnetism; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Nickel; Original Paper; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; Strongly Correlated Systems; Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures; Superconductivity; SURFACE FINISH; Surface layer; Surface roughness; Texture; TEXTURES
• ISSN: 1557-1939; 1557-1947
• DOI: 10.1007/s10948-011-1136-2

We fabricated CeO 2 films using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ coated conductors on Ni–5 at.%W alloy substrates and investigated the effect of Ni–5 at.%W tapes on the epitaxial growth and surface morphologies of CeO 2 deposited on various substrates at various temperatures ranging from 650 to 770 °C. The texture and microstructure of substrates and CeO 2 films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscope (OM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the texture and microstructure of Ni–5 at.%W substrates, such as Ni(111), grain size, the depth of grain boundary grooves and surface roughness, affected the growth of CeO 2 films. Especially, the depth of grain boundary grooves of substrates resulted in high intensity of CeO 2 (111) peak and high surface roughness of CeO 2 films. We also found that high growth temperature effectively reduced the influence of substrate surface roughness on the epitaxial growth of CeO 2 films. CeO 2 films with high in-plane and out-of-plane alignments (Δ φ =5.54°, Δ ω =3.40°) were obtained under optimum condition.