Highly textured oxypnictide superconducting thin films on metal substrates
Highly textured NdFeAs(O,F) thin films have been grown on ion beam assisted deposition-MgO/Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Hastelloy substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The oxypnictide coated conductors showed a superconducting transition temperature (T{sub c}) of 43 K with a self-field critical current density (J{sub c}) of 7.0×10{sup 4} A/cm{sup 2} at 5 K, more than 20 times higher than powder-in-tube processed SmFeAs(O,F) wires. Albeit higher T{sub c} as well as better crystalline quality than Co-doped BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} coated conductors, in-field J{sub c} of NdFeAs(O,F) was lower than that of Co-doped BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}. These results suggest that grain boundaries in oxypnictides reduce J{sub c} significantly compared to that in Co-doped BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} and, hence biaxial texture is necessary for high J{sub c.}.