Structural coherence of the CuO sub 2 planes of oxide superconductors: Is it a requirement for superconductivity

Conference · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5642264

Jorgensen, J D; Hinks, D G; Hunter, B A; Hitterman, R L; Mitchell, A W; Radaelli, P G; Dabrowski, B; Wagner, J L; Takahashi, H; Larson, E C

The CuO{sub 2} planes of copper-oxide superconductors are not perfectly flat. The oxygen atoms are displaced out of the plane of the copper atoms. In some compounds the pattern of corrugation exhibits long-range translational symmetry; in others it does not. We describe structures of the first type as coherent and those of the second type as incoherent. In the context of this definition, the orthorhombic phases of compounds based on YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6+x} and La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} are coherent, while the tetragonal phases are probably incoherent as a result of random oxygen atom displacements that give rise to average tetragonal symmetry. The latter structures are more appropriately called disordered tetragonal structures. When data for these two systems are interpreted in terms of a model that admits short-range orthorhombic order in structures that exhibit average tetragonal symmetry, we are led to conclude that there is no evidence for superconductivity in compounds with disordered tetragonal symmetry. We are led to propose that structural coherence of the CuO{sub 2} planes is a requirement for superconductivity in layered copper-oxide compounds.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; NSF; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5642264
• Report Number(s): ANL/CP-74854; CONF-920141--3; ON: DE92009724
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360202 -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Structure & Phase Studies
360207* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Superconducting Properties-- (1992-)
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
BARIUM OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COPPER COMPOUNDS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CUPRATES
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
LANTHANUM OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
STRONTIUM COMPOUNDS
STRONTIUM OXIDES
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
SUPERCONDUCTORS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM OXIDES