EP0447767A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method of preparing oriented, polycrystalline superconducting ceramic oxides
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1991-01-31
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-01-31
Abstract
Abstract A process for the preparation of oriented, ceramic oxides from a bilayer structure of a polycrystalline superconducting ceramic oxide and a second ceramic oxide material having a lower melting point than the superconducting ceramic oxide. The process comprises the steps of preparing (32) a substrate, depositing the superconducting ceramic oxide (36, 40) and second ceramic oxide (34, 38) in alternate layers, and heat treating (42) the resulting composite structure to obtain an oriented structure whereby the c-axes of the unit cells of the crystallites are predominantly normal to the surface of the substrate.
Inventors
- 👤 Jerome John Cuomo
- 👤 Charles Richard Guarnieri
- 👤 Eugene Solomon Machlin
- 👤 Ronnen Andrew Roy
- 👤 Dennis Sek-On Yee
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 05:56
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10N; H10N60/00; H10N60/01; H10N60/0268; H10N60/0296; H10N60/0548; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S505/00; Y10S505/725; Y10S505/733; Y10S505/742
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
113 words
A process for preparing an oriented superconducting ceramic oxide from a bilayer structure of a polycrystalline superconducting ceramic oxide and a second ceramic oxide material having a lower melting point than the superconducting ceramic oxide comprising the steps of: (a) preparing (32) a substantially smooth substrate; (b) forming (34, 36, 38, 40) a bilayer structure having a polycrystalline superconducting ceramic oxide layer and a second ceramic oxide layer alternately arranged by sequential deposition on the substrate; and (c) heat treating (42) the composite structure of substrate and bilayer structure to obtain an oriented structure whereby the c-axes of the unit cells of the crystallites are predominantly normal to the surface of the substrate.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
22 words
A process according to claim 1 further comprising the step of depositing a second superconducting ceramic oxide layer on the oriented structure.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
57 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the step of heat treating the composite structure further comprises etching the bilayer structure deposited on the substrate to create a plurality of gates in that structure, generating an annealing zone in the bilayer structure, and passing the annealing zone through the gates to form an oriented, monocrystalline, superconducting layer.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the superconducting ceramic oxide is deposited directly (36) on top of the substrate and the second ceramic oxide material is deposited (38) on the superconducting ceramic oxide.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the second ceramic oxide material is deposited directly (34) on top of the substrate and the superconducting ceramic oxide is deposited (40) on the second ceramic oxide material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the step of depositing the superconducting ceramic oxide further comprises depositing the superconducting ceramic oxide as a film having a thickness of about 1 X 10⁻³ inches.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
45 words
A process according to claim 6 wherein the step of depositing the second ceramic oxide material further comprises depositing the second ceramic oxide material as a film having a thickness ranging from about 1 to 3 times the thickness of the superconducting ceramic oxide film.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the depositing steps further comprise forming layers of the second ceramic oxide material and the superconducting ceramic oxide by selecting deposition processes from the group consisting of plasma spraying, evaporating, sputtering, and dual ion beam depositing.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the second ceramic oxide material has a composition substantially similar to that of the superconducting ceramic oxide.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
A process according to claim 1 wherein the superconducting ceramic oxide is YBa₂Cu₃O 7-x (0 < x < 0.5).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
56 words
A process according to claim 10 wherein the composition of the second ceramic oxide material is within the composition triangle defined by BaCuO₂, CuO, and YBa₂Cu₃O₇ of the ternary phase diagram, the second ceramic oxide material acting as a solvent at the annealing temperature for the YBa₂Cu₃O 7-x (0 < x < 0.5) superconducting ceramic oxide.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
37 words
A process according to claim 11 wherein the second ceramic oxide material has a composition approximately on a line in the ternary phase diagram connecting (BaO) .3 (CuO) .7 on the BaO-CuO edge and the YBa₂Cu₃O₇ compound.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
A process according to claim 10 wherein the step of heat treating further comprises a rapid thermal anneal.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
14 words
A process according to claim 10 wherein the heat treating is performed in oxygen.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
A process according to claim 10 wherein the step of heat treating further comprises heating (52) in a furnace to a temperature approximately in the range 970-995°C.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
60 words
A process according to claim 15 wherein the step of heat treating further comprises: (a) holding (60) the composite structure in the furnace for about one hour at a temperature approximately in the range 970-995°C; (b) reducing (62) the temperature to about 930°C; (c) removing (64) the composite structure from the furnace and cooling the composite structure to room temperature.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
52 words
A process according to claim 15 wherein the step of heat treating the composite structure further comprises: (a) holding (70) the composite structure in the furnace for about one hour at a temperature approximately in the range 970-995°C; (b) reducing (72) the temperature to about 930°C; (c) annealing (74) the composite structure.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
35 words
A process according to claim 17 wherein the step of annealing the composite structure further comprises rapidly cooling the composite structure in oxygen to about 700°C then slowly cooling the composite structure to room temperature.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
42 words
A process according to claim 15 wherein the step of heat treating the composite structure further comprises: (a) reducing (80) the temperature to about 930°C; (b) removing (82) the composite structure from the furnace and cooling the composite structure to room temperature.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
31 words
A process according to claim 15 wherein the step of heat treating the composite structure further comprises: (a) reducing (90) the temperature to about 930°C; (b) annealing (92) the composite structure.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
A process according to claim 20 wherein the step of annealing the composite structure further comprises rapidly cooling the composite structure in oxygen to about 700°C then slowly cooling the composite structure to room temperature.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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