Patent ID: 6943136

Claim:
A method of improving the superconducting properties of a superconducting (rare-earth)-barium-copper oxide structure by depositing a thin buffer layer of yttrium-barium-copper oxide having a thickness of from about 5 nanometers to about 50 nanometers as a superconducting material characterized as having chemical and structural compatibility with the superconducting (rare-earth)-barium-copper oxide directly onto a dielectric oxide substrate and depositing a layer of superconducting (rare-earth)-barium-copper oxide directly onto said thin buffer layer, said rare earth selected from the group consisting of samarium, gadolinium, ytterbium, erbium, neodymium, dysprosium, holmium, lutetium, a combination of more than one element from said rare earth group and a combination of one or more elements from said rare earth group with yttrium, whereby measured superconducting properties of critical current and transition temperature for said superconducting (rare-earth)-barium-copper oxide structure are characterized as greater in value for the structure including said thin buffer layer than for a structure of said superconducting (rare-earth)-barium-copper oxide without said thin buffer layer.