Methods for forming superconducting conductors

• US 20100065417A1
• Filed: 11/28/2005
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Superpower, Inc. (Furukawa Electric Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Superpower, Inc. (Furukawa Electric Company Limited)
• Inventors: Selvamanickam, Venkat
• Application Number:
  US11/287,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20100065417A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 204/192.120
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/024 Deposition of sublayers, e.g. to promote adhesion of the coating C23C14/027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/087 of copper or solid solutions thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/3442 using an ion beam
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 60/0632 Intermediate layers, e.g. for growth control

Abstract

A method for producing a superconducting conductor is disclosed, including providing a substrate, depositing a buffer film having a biaxial texture to overlie the substrate by reactive sputtering, and depositing a superconducting layer to overlie the buffer film. Deposition of the buffer film is carried out by exposing the substrate along a deposition zone to a material plume generated by bombarding a target in the presence of a magnetic field, the deposition zone having a length of at least 1.0 m. The assist ions may be generated from a gridless ion source. The buffer film may have a biaxial texture having an out-of-plane crystallographic texture represented by a mosaic spread of not greater than 30°.

Claims

1. A method for producing a superconducting conductor, comprising:

providing metal alloy substrate in a deposition chamber;

forming a material plume in the deposition chamber, the material plume comprising metallic elements from at least one metallic target;

reacting the metallic elements to form a depositing species that deposits to form a buffer film overlying the substrate;

exposing the substrate to assist ions during deposition of the depositing species to form the buffer film, the buffer film having a biaxial texture and having an in-plane mosaic spread Δ

Φ

not greater than 30°

; and

depositing a superconductor layer to overlie the buffer film.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein reacting includes oxidizing the metallic elements to form a metal oxide depositing species.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the metallic elements are selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ni, Ce, Y, Ti, Sn, Mn, Fe, Cu and rare earth elements.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the buffer film is selected from the group consisting of MgO, NiO, YSZ, CeO₂, Y₂O₃, TiO₂, SnO₂, Mn₃O₄, Fe₃O₄, Cu₂O, and RE₂O₃, wherein RE is a rare earth element.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming the material plume and reacting the metallic elements are carried out by reactive sputtering.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein reactive sputtering is reactive magnetron sputtering such that the buffer film is deposited by ion beam assisted deposition incorporating reactive magnetron sputtering.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the buffer film has an out-of-plane crystallographic texture having a mosaic spread of not greater than 30°

, wherein the mosaic spread is represented by a full-width-at-half-maximum value of an x-ray diffraction peak obtained by a (001) polefigure measurement.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the buffer film has an out-of-plane crystallographic texture having a mosaic spread of not greater than 15°

.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the buffer film has a rock-salt-like crystal structure.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the material plume is generated by bombarding the at least one target.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal alloy comprises a Ni-based alloy.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the superconductor layer comprises a high temperature superconductor material, having a critical temperature T_c not less than about 77 K.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the superconductor material comprises YBCO.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the target has a length not less than about 1.0 m.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the in-plane mosaic spread Δ

Φ

is not greater than 20°

.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the in-plane mosaic spread Δ

Φ

is not greater than 15°

.

7. A method for producing a superconducting conductor, comprising:

providing metal alloy substrate in a deposition chamber;

forming a material plume in the deposition chamber, the material plume comprising metallic elements from at least one metallic target;

reacting the metallic elements to form a depositing species that deposits to form a buffer film overlying the substrate;

exposing the substrate to assist ions from a gridless ion source during deposition of the depositing species to form the buffer film, the buffer film having a biaxial texture and having an in-plane mosaic spread Δ

Φ

not greater than 30°

; and

depositing a superconductor layer to overlie the buffer film.

12. (canceled)