Texture and surface morphology of yttria-stabilized zirconia buffer layer on Ni-based tapes by electron beam evaporation

Biaxially textured buffer layers of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) have been fabricated on metal Ni-based tapes by electron beam evaporation technique. The high deposition rate of the electron beam evaporation presents an advantage in making long coated tape. Various materials including cubic textured Ni, Cu-Ni, and Hastelloy tapes were used as substrates. The grown YSZ films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, etc. It was found that the YSZ buffer layers were highly c-axis oriented on Ni or Ni-based tapes. The YSZ (111) pole figure revealed a cubic texture. The full width at half maximum of φ-scan of YSZ (111) deposited on Ni, Cu-Ni, and Hastelloy tapes was 15°, 14° and 20°, respectively. The surface of YSZ film is dense. Such YSZ buffer layers are promising for making YBCO coated conductors on metal tapes.