High-temperature cuprates crystal structure

Since the discovery of high temperature superconductivity in cuprates, there has been intense interest in transition metal oxides with strongly layered, (quasi) two-dimensional (2D) crystal structures and electronic properties. For several years now alkali-metal intercalated layered cobaltates, particularly Na CoCL (NxCO)withx 0.50 — 0.75, have been pursued for their thermoelectric properties [1] IAX C0O2 is of course of great interest and importance due to its battery applications. The recent discovery[2] and confirmation[3-5] of superconductivity in this system, for x 0.3 when intercalated with H20, has heightened interest in the NxCO system. 

The crystal structures of several high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), particularly in the cuprate family, are describable as built of modules of perovskite together... 

De Leeuw, D.M., Groen, W.A., Feiner, L.F., and Hawinga, E.E. (1990) Correlation between the superconducting transition temperature and crystal structure of high-Tc cuprate compounds. Physica C (Superconductivity), 166 (1-2),... 

In sect. 3 we will diseuss the correlation of the measured uniaxial strain dependence of Ta in YBa2Cu307 with changes in the crystal structure and the electronic structure. It is worthwhile to list characteristic features of the HTS cuprates that may underpin the ability to become superconducting at high temperature ... 

The high-temperature superconductors are a remarkable set of materials that present us with fascinating scientific and technological challenges. The cuprate Ba2YCu307, the first material with a T > 77 K, has a tripled perovskite structure with Cu occupying the small perovskite B site while Ba and Y are ordered on the perovskite A site. Bulk crystals are key to... 

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