Research of surface-oxidation epitaxy of NiO films on cube textured Ni tapes

Thin films of NiO were fabricated in air by surface-oxidation epitaxy (SOE) on biaxially-textured Ni substrate, for use as buffer layers for YBCO coated conductors. The surface-oxidation conditions such as the temperature and the reaction time, as well as the cooling rate, playa determining role in the process of epitaxial growth of the NiO layer. A continuous, biaxially-aligned textured NiO layer, was obtained for a 10 min oxidation in air at 1120°C,and acooling rate of 150 Klh. The roughness of the NiO layer is mostly controlled by a coarsening of some NiO grains .