In this paper, an intensive study is performed to elucidate the link between sinter temperature and sinter atmosphere as processing parameters in YBCO film formation, starting from an aqueous fluorine-free AWAT CSD precursor. Moreover, the results are linked to the reaction mechanism behind this non-fluorine approach. This resulted in a partial oxygen versus temperature diagram containing different zones giving rise to specific YBCO properties. It is observed that sinter temperature and sinter atmosphere should be judiciously chosen to obtain high quality superconducting films. Under a 200 ppm O-2 atmosphere, highly textured YBCO films are obtained when sintering took place at 815 degrees C giving rise to an inductive T-c,T-onset of 92 K and a J(c)-value up to 1.1 MA cm(-2). Moreover, this paper gives a clear indication that the formation of a liquid phase strongly enhances the epitaxial growth. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.