MAGNETIC, ELECTRIC AND EQUILIBRIUM PROPERTIES OF YBa2Cu3-x(PO4)xO7-δ HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING SYSTEM

Abstract

The new YBa 2 Cu 3-x( PO 4)x O 7-δ (x = 0; 0.03; 0.06; 0.09; 0.12) superconducting material was synthesized by the standard solid state reaction recipe. X-ray diffraction results show the effective substitution of copper for phosphate and also show no evidence of any impurity related with phosphate content. Resistivity, DC magnetization and heat capacity measurements reveal a superconducting transition for all samples with a maximum critical temperature up to 97 K, corresponding to the x = 0.03 sample. For higher doping values, the critical temperature decreases in an approximately linear response. In agreement with the charge transfer model, the critical temperature decreases with the carrier density. For x = 0.03, the critical temperature shows a rise up due to an approximation to the optimum density which separates over-doped and under-doped regimes. The maximum critical temperature achieved is one of the highest ever seen for the 123-type superconductors.