J H Durrell and N A Rutter 2009 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 22 013001 doi:10.1088/0953-2048/22/1/013001
J H Durrell1 and N A Rutter
Show affiliationsOver the past ten years the perception of grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7−δ conductors has changed greatly. They are now not a problem to be eliminated, but an inevitable and potentially favourable part of the material. This change has arisen as a consequence of new manufacturing techniques which result in excellent grain alignment, reducing the spread of grain boundary misorientation angles. At the same time there is considerable recent evidence which indicates that the variation of properties of grain boundaries with mismatch angle is more complex than a simple exponential decrease in critical current. This is due to the fact that low-angle grain boundaries represent a qualitatively different system to high-angle boundaries. The time is therefore right for a targeted review of research into low-angle YBa2Cu3O7−δ grain boundaries. This article does not purport to be a comprehensive review of the physics of grain boundaries as found in YBa2Cu3O7−δ in general; for a broader overview we would recommend that the reader consult the comprehensive review of Hilgenkamp and Mannhart (2002 Rev. Mod. Phys. 74 485). The purpose of this article is to review the origin and properties of the low-angle grain boundaries found in YBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductors both individually and as a collective system.
61.72.Mm Grain and twin boundaries
74.62.Dh Effects of crystal defects, doping and substitution
Issue 1 (January 2009)
Received 28 September 2008, in final form 4 November 2008
Published 19 November 2008
J H Durrell and N A Rutter 2009 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 22 013001
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