Ag Doping Effects on Y0.5Gd0.5Ba2Cu3O7-δ multilayers derived by low-fluorine metalorganic solution deposition

Various artificial multilayers consisting of Y_0.5Gd_0.5Ba₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YGdBCO) superconducting films were built up on an oxide buffered Hastelloy substrate using the low-fluorine metallorganic deposition method (MOD). Microscopic and superconducting performances are studied on composite YGdBCO multilayer films with and without alternate ultrathin layers of Ag, which comparatively demonstrates the Ag doping effects in such architectures. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy imply that the growth thermodynamic parameters of the YGdBCO are modified, resulting in a better c-axis orientation and a higher in-plane texture, as well as a superior surface, and finally give rise to great improvement of superconducting performance. To understand the above Ag doping effects further, the critical Gibbs free energy ΔG^*(r) on nucleation of MOD-YGdBCO films on the biaxially textured buffer layers is analyzed with respect to the additions of Ag, which shows the competition between a-axis and c-axis growths subject to supersaturation. As a consequence, Ag additions may reduce the supersaturation at the growth interfaces, and hence give rise to a wider window of c-axis nucleation.