Significant improvement of the critical current of MOD-derived YBa₂Cu₃O_7- -coated conductors by post-annealing treatment

This paper reports that in REBa2Cu3O7-delta (RE123 or REBCO, RE = Y or rare earth)-coated conductors (CCs) prepared by ex situ metal-organic deposition (MOD), it is feasible to obtain YBa2Cu4O8-type stacking faults (Y124-type SFs) by a post-annealing treatment, and hence to improve its microstructures as well as the critical current (I (c)) at 77 K. Detailed studies show that the formation and evolution of Y124-type SFs plays an important role in I (c) improvement for MOD-derived YBCO CCs, with an increase of I (c)(77 K) as large as 50 similar to 120 A for samples 12 mm in width. This cost-effective approach implies great commercial value for scaled processing.