Kinetic Control of Ultrafast Transient Liquid Assisted Growth of Solution‐Derived YBa2Cu3O7‐x Superconducting Films

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 9; no. 32
• Main Authors: Rasi, Silvia, Queraltó, Albert, Banchewski, Juri, Saltarelli, Lavinia, Garcia, Diana, Pacheco, Adrià, Gupta, Kapil, Kethamkuzhi, Aiswarya, Soler, Laia, Jareño, Julia, Ricart, Susagna, Farjas, Jordi, Roura‐Grabulosa, Pere, Mocuta, Cristian, Obradors, Xavier, Puig, Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim John Wiley & Sons, Inc 14.11.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: chemical solution deposition; Cost reduction; Equilibrium; growth from transient liquid; kinetic phase diagrams; Oxidation; superconducting YBa2Cu3O7‐x; Temperature
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202203834
• ISSN: 2198-3844

Transient liquid assisted growth (TLAG) is an ultrafast non‐equilibrium growth process mainly governed by kinetic parameters, which are only accessible through fast in situ characterizations. In situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and in situ electrical resistivity measurements are used to derive kinetic diagrams of YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) superconducting films prepared via TLAG and to reveal the unique peculiarities of the process. In particular, diagrams for the phase evolution and the YBCO growth rates have been built for the two TLAG routes. It is shown that TLAG transient liquids can be obtained upon the melting of two barium cuprate phases (and not just one), differentiated by their copper oxidation state. This knowledge serves as a guide to determine the processing conditions to reach high performance films at high growth rates. With proper control of these kinetic parameters, films with critical current densities of 2–2.6 MA cm−2 at 77 K and growth rates between 100–2000 nm s−1 are reached. These growth rates are 1.5–3 orders of magnitude higher than those of conventional methods. Transient liquid assisted growth (TLAG) is an ultrafast, non‐equilibrium growth process governed by kinetic parameters, accessible only through fast in situ characterizations. These methods are used to build kinetic diagrams of phase evolution and growth rate which are unique guides to reach the conditions for ultrafast growth (>1000 nm s−1) and high‐performance superconducting films by combining kinetic and thermodynamic parameters.