Structure, pinning and supercurrent in YBa2Cu307 films and ReBa2Cu307 multilayers

High quality YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) films and multilayers of ReBa2Cu3O7 superconductors, where Re is rare earth elements (Y and Nd), have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition. Pinning characteristics of the structures obtained have been analysed and attributed to growth conditions and corresponding structural peculiarities. Relatively thick (~1 µm) multilayers exhibit better performance than mono-layer YBCO films having arbitrary thickness. differences in the films and multilayers are discussed in terms of their structure homogeneity and defects induced by the growth of the layers.