Lattice instabilities and the effect of copper-oxygen-sheet distortions on superconductivity in doped La sub 2 CuO sub 4

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.44.7749· OSTI ID:5058209

Crawford, M K; Harlow, R L; McCarron, E M; Farneth, W E ^[1]; Axe, J D; Chou, H ^[2]; Huang, Q ^[3]

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1. Central Research and Development, DuPont Experimental Station, P.O. Box 80356, Wilmington, Delaware (USA)
2. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York (USA)
3. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Reactor E151, Gaithersburg, Maryland (USA)

Synchrotron x-ray and neutron-diffraction measurements demonstrate that Nd{sup 3+} substitution at the La{sup 3+} site in both metallic and insulating La{sub 2{minus}{ital x}}Sr{sub {ital x}}CuO{sub 4} induces low-temperature structural instabilities which reorient the tilting of the copper-oxygen octahedra. These structural transformations strongly affect superconductivity. In addition, there is a bicritical point involving phases of {ital Bmab}, {ital Pccn}, and {ital P}4{sub 2}/{ital ncm} space-group symmetries in the structural phase diagram of La{sub 1.6{minus}{ital x}}Nd{sub 0.4}Sr{sub {ital x}}CuO{sub 4} at {ital x}{similar to}0.15. There are also anomalies in the structural transformation temperatures and the superconducting transition temperatures when {ital x}{similar to}1/8, providing evidence for an electronic instability at this doping level.

• OSTI ID: 5058209
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States), Vol. 44:14; ISSN 0163-1829
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COPPER OXIDES
CRYSTAL DOPING
MICROSTRUCTURE
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
LANTHANUM OXIDES
STRONTIUM OXIDES
DOPED MATERIALS
INSTABILITY
NEODYMIUM ADDITIONS
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION
PHASE DIAGRAMS
QUATERNARY COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALLOYS
AMINES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
COPPER COMPOUNDS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DIAGRAMS
DIFFRACTION
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
NEODYMIUM ALLOYS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RARE EARTH ADDITIONS
RARE EARTH ALLOYS
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
SCATTERING
STRONTIUM COMPOUNDS
SUPERCONDUCTORS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
360204* - Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories- Physical Properties