Abstract
Epitaxial films of rare-earth (RE) niobates, RE3NbO7 with pyrochlore structures, were grown on biaxially textured nickel-3 at.% tungsten (Ni-W) substrates using a chemical solution deposition process. A precursor solution of 0.3-0.50 M concentration of total cations was spin coated on to short samples of Ni-W substrates, and the films were crystallized at 1050-1100 °C in a gas mixture of Ar-4% H2 for 15 min. Detailed studies revealed that RE-niobates with ionic radius ratio RRE/ RNb (R = ionic radius) from 1.23 to 1.40 (i.e., Sm, Eu, Gd, Ho, Y, and Yb) grow epitaxially with the pyrochlore structure. X-ray studies showed that the films of pyrochlore RE niobate films were highly textured with cube-on-cube epitaxy. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy investigations of RE3NbO7 films revealed a fairly dense and smooth microstructure without cracks and porosity. The rare-earth niobate layers may be potentially used as buffer layers for YBa2Cu3 O7-δ coated conductors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 904-909 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Materials Research |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2005 |
Funding
Thanks are due to David Beach for purifying some of the starting rare earth acetates. This work was supported by the United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE), Division of Materials Sciences, Office of Science, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution. This research was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by U.T.-Battelle, LLC for the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. M.S. Bhuiyan would also like to acknowledge the help of Air Force Office of Scientific Research for providing financial support.