YBCO films grown by reactive co-evaporation on simplified IBAD-MgO coated conductor templates

We demonstrate coated conductors fabricated by reactive co-evaporation of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(y) (YBCO) by cyclic deposition and reaction (RCE-CDR) on ion-beam-assisted-deposition-(IBAD-) textured templates simplified by the elimination of the epitaxial buffer layer. Hastelloy substrates, both polished and unpolished, were used as a starting material for the IBAD templates. Y(2)O(3) bed layers were then deposited followed by IBAD- textured MgO and a thin homoepitaxial MgO layer. The MgO-terminated templates were used for direct deposition of YBCO by RCE-CDR. Critical current densities obtained for the undoped YBCO material are comparable to the best values measured previously with the use of LaMnO(3) or SrTiO(3) epitaxial buffer layers and state-of-the-art coated conductor results. The structural characterization data indicate a well oriented YBCO film with a robust template. Electrical measurements also indicate no weak links and a typical magnetic field behavior of undoped YBCO, characterized by a low density of naturally occurring strong pinning centers and correlations along the ab direction.