Fabrication of La ₃TaO ₇ using a new precursor solution route by chemical solution method

La ₃TaO ₇ (LTO) has been fabricated using a new precursor solution route by chemical solution method. The newly developed LTO precursor solution was obtained in ambient atmosphere. A serious of studies on the properties of LTO precursor gel and its powder annealed at different temperatures were presented in order to understand the decomposition of LTO precursor gel and the growth behavior of LTO. The single phase LTO powder and LTO film on textured Ni-W substrate were obtained after annealed at 1,100° in a gas mixture of Ar-4% H ₂. But it should be pointed out that LTO film was annealed by adopting a rapid elevated temperature processing (RETP) method. X-ray diffraction shows that the LTO film on Ni-W tape was highly oriented, and its out-of-plane texture is very close to that of the underlying Ni-W substrate. The SEM investigation of LTO film reveals a dense, smooth, pinhole-free and crack-free microstructure for coated buffer. These results offer the potential to use the LTO film prepared by the new precursor solution route as a buffer layer for further manufacturing other buffer layer in coated conductors.