Highly textured oxypnictide superconducting thin films on metal substrates Available to Purchase

Highly textured NdFeAs(O,F) thin films have been grown on ion beam assisted deposition-MgO/Y₂O₃/Hastelloy substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The oxypnictide coated conductors showed a superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of 43 K with a self-field critical current density (J_c) of $7.0×104 A/cm2$ at 5 K, more than 20 times higher than powder-in-tube processed SmFeAs(O,F) wires. Albeit higher T_c as well as better crystalline quality than Co-doped BaFe₂As₂ coated conductors, in-field J_c of NdFeAs(O,F) was lower than that of Co-doped BaFe₂As₂. These results suggest that grain boundaries in oxypnictides reduce J_c significantly compared to that in Co-doped BaFe₂As₂ and, hence biaxial texture is necessary for high J_c.