The crystal structure of La0.7Pr0.3Ba2Cu3Od ceramic compound

Abstract

The structure of new La0.7Pr0.3Ba2Cu3Oy (LPBCO) compound was obtained at room temperature from synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by Rietveld technique. LPBCO has an isotypical structure with YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO). The crystal data are: La0.7Pr0.3Ba2Cu3O6.96, Mr=716.16, orthorhombic system, space group Pmmm, a=3.9147(1) Å, b=3.8672(1) Å, c=11.7033(2) Å, V=177.177(6) Å3, Z=1, Dx=6.714 g/cm3; the structure was refined with 35 parameters to Rwp=7.41%, Rp=5.32%, and Rexp=3.07% for 5001 step intensities. Moreover, the total content of oxygen in a unit cell is refined as 6.96, which is less than that of the calculated one. We attribute the superconductivity-depression to the increase of the valence of copper.