OIM Characterization of Metal Substrates Used for Coated Conductors
Abstract
Eliminating high-angle grain boundaries is key to producing superconductor tapes with high current-carrying capability. In coated conductors in which YBCO is grown epitaxially on bi-axially textured substrates, the superconductor performance depends on the texture in the metal substrate and its buffer layers. We studied texture in copper and nickel alloy tapes using Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIM), an SEM technique that allows point-by-point crystal orientation determination and mapping with sub-micron spatial resolution. OIM showed that 85% of the grains in deformation-textured copper tape fall within 10 degrees of a perfect cube texture. Twin-related grains, which are very common in rolled and recrystallized copper, were not seen. The texture in the nickel alloy was not as strong. Approximately 15% of the tape surface was occupied by large (50-75 μm diameter) "rogue" grains with orientations that deviated from the cube texture.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 1998
- Bibcode:
- 1998APS..MAR.W2004R