Study of thermal oxidation of NiO buffers on Ni-based tapes for superconductor substrates

NiO on Ni-based textured substrates is a potential buffer layer system for growth of superconductor films for conductor applications. In this work, the high temperature oxidation of NiO has been studied under different oxygen partial pressures. Pure Ni, Ni-10%Cr and Cr-coated Ni have been studied. Pure Ni when oxidized at 1250 °C for 3 h in P_O(2) to approximately 1 atm has shown excellent pure cube texture. Ni-10%Cr oxidized under the same condition has shown the same texture, however the tape becomes very brittle. The conditions for reproducible growth of highly cube textured NiO are determined.