Out-of-plane effect on the superconductivity of Sr2−xBaxCuO3+δ with Tc up to 98 K

Abstract

A series of new Sr2−xBaxCuO3+δ (0≤x≤0.6) superconductors were prepared using high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis. A Rietveld refinement based on powder x-ray diffraction confirms that the superconductors crystallize in the K2NiF4-type structure of a space group I4/mmm similar to that of La2CuO4 but with partially occupied apical oxygen sites. It is found that the superconducting transition temperature Tc of this Ba substituted Sr2CuO3+δ superconductor with constant carrier-doping level, i.e., constant δ is controlled not only by order/disorder of apical-O atoms but also by Ba content. Tcmax=98 K is achieved in the material with x=0.6 that reaches the record value of Tc among the single-layer copper oxide superconductors and is higher than Tc=95 K of Sr2CuO3+δ with optimally ordered apical-O atoms. There is Sr-site disorder in Sr2−xBaxCuO3+δ which might lead to a reduction in Tc. The result indicates that another effect surpasses the disorder effect that is related either to the increased in-plane Cu-O bond length or to elongated apical-O distance due to Ba substitution with larger cation size. The present experiment demonstrates that the optimization of local geometry out of the Cu-O plane can dramatically enhance Tc in the cuprate superconductors.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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