Ultra-large current transport in thick SmBa₂Cu₃O_7-x films grown by reactive co-evaporation

Structural and transport properties of high performance SmBa₂Cu₃O_7-x coated conductors produced by a dual-chamber co-evaporation are presented. The 5 μm-thick SmBCO coated conductors grown on IBAD-MgO based Hastelloy metal templates show critical currents larger than 1020-1560 A/cm at 77 K and self-field. The current transport characteristics of the conductors are investigated by room-temperature thermoelectric microscopy and low-temperature bolometric microscopy. The local thermoelectric images show the tilted grains, grain boundaries, and microstructural defects on the surface of the coated conductors. The bias current-dependent bolometric response at low temperature displays the current of the local flux flow dissipation as an increasing bias. Furthermore, we measured micro-Raman scattering microscopic imaging on oxygen-related peaks of the conductors. Comparing the Raman signal images with the low temperature optical scanning maps, it is remarkable that the structural disorders represented by oxygen-related Raman peaks are closely related to the low temperature bolometric abnormalities. From this result, a nature of the dissipative current distribution in coated conductors is revealed. The scanning optical microscopic study will provide a promising method for quality assurance of coated conductors.