Abstract
One of the outstanding questions concerning the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7 is the relative importance of the CuO2 planes (Cu(2) site) and the CuO chains (Cu(1) site). Many theories1,2 have stressed the importance of the 3d holes at the Cu sites, which provide an antiferromagnetic correlated background necessary for the coupling of the superconducting electrons. We have substituted Zn(3d104s2) and Ga(3d104s24p1) in the Cu(2) and Cu(1) sites, respectively, while maintaining the oxygen stoichiometry at 7. In the valence states of 2 + and 3 + respectively, the 3d bands of both elements are completely full, without the complication of a magnetic moment. Here we discuss the structural changes that accompany Zn and Ga substitution, as deduced from X-ray and neutron diffraction, and correlate these changes with the superconducting properties. We show that the integrity of the planes is much more important than that of the chains in sustaining high-Tc superconductivity.
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Xiao, G., Cieplak, M., Musser, D. et al. Significance of plane versus chain sites in high-temperature oxide superconductors. Nature 332, 238–240 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332238a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/332238a0
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