Influence of Hydrogen Incorporation and Oxygen Removal on Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of hydrogen incorporation and oxygen removal on superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ is discussed in comparison with their respective effects. Both hydrogen incorporation and oxygen removal induce the orthorhombic (O)-to-tetragonal (T) transition and antiferromagnetic ordering as well. However, there exist no consistent changes in the c-axis for the O-to-T transition and the superconducting transition temperature Tc upon hydrogen incorporation in YBa2Cu3O7-δ on the other hand, the c-axis certainly increases in the corresponding transition driven by oxygen nonstoichiometry and Tc decreases with increasing δ in YBa2Cu3O7-δ. Plots of Tc vs. the lattice parameter c reveal no significant suppression in Tc upon hydrogenation than oxygen removal. It is concluded that the Cu-O bond distances or the Cu-Cu plane spacings along the c-axis change somewhat differently in two cases; it is believed that the charge-carrier concentration is reduced less significantly upon hydrogenation than oxygen removal in YBa2Cu3O7-δ, giving rise to the aforementioned finding.