Multi-layer articles and methods of making same
AssigneeAmerican Superconductor Corporation
InventorsWei Zhang, Martin W. Rupich, Suresh Annavarapu, Leslie G. Fritzemeier, Edward J. Siegal, Valery Prunier, Qi Li
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Abstract
The invention relates to multi-layer articles and methods of making such articles. The methods include first conditioning the surface of an underlying layer, such as a buffer layer or a superconductor layer, then disposing a layer of material on the conditioned surface. The conditioned surface can be a high quality surface. Superconductor articles formed by these methods can exhibit relatively high critical current densities.
Claims50
A method of making a multi-layer article, comprising:
- epitaxially depositing a first material on a surface of a third material to form a deposited layer of the first material, the first material being a buffer material, the deposited layer of the first material having a surface with a crystallinity and a morphology;
- chemically conditioning the surface of the deposited layer of the first material to form a conditioned surface having a crystallinity and a morphology, the crystallinity of the conditioned surface being substantially the same as the crystallinity of the surface of the deposited layer, and the morphology of the conditioned surface being different from the morphology of the deposited layer;
- and
- disposing a layer of a second material on the conditioned surface.
A method of making a multi-layer article, comprising:
- epitaxially depositing a first material on a surface of a third material to form a deposited layer of the first material, the first material being a buffer material, the deposited layer of the first material having a surface with a crystallinity and a morphology;
- heating, at an oxygen gas pressure of less than about 700 Torr, the surface of the deposited layer of the first material to a temperature at least about 5° C. above a temperature selected from the group consisting of a deposition temperature of the layer of the first material and a crystallization temperature of the layer of the first material to form a conditioned surface having a crystallinity and a morphology, the crystallinity of the conditioned surface being substantially the same as the crystallinity of the surface of the deposited layer, and the morphology of the conditioned surface being different from the morphology of the deposited layer;
- and
- disposing a second material on the conditioned surface.
A method of making a multi-layer article, comprising:
- epitaxially depositing a first material on a surface of a third material to form a deposited layer of the first material, the first material being a buffer material, the deposited layer of the first material having a surface with a crystallinity and a morphology;
- heating the surface of the deposited layer of the first material to a temperature at least about 5° C. above a temperature selected from the group consisting of a deposition temperature of the layer of the first material and a crystallization temperature of the layer of the first material to form a conditioned surface having a crystallinity and a morphology, the crystallinity of the conditioned surface being substantially the same as the crystallinity of the surface of the deposited layer, and the morphology of the conditioned surface being different from the morphology of the deposited layer, the first material being disposed on a surface of a polycrystalline material;
- and
- disposing a second material layer on the conditioned surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.