Professor Paolo G. Radaelli OSI

Abstract:

Cu and C substitution for Hg in Hg-based cuprate superconductors is discussed. The large Hg Debye-Waller factor usually obtained from refinements based on diffraction data should be interpreted as an indication of carbon substitution for the Hg cations. This assumption is corroborated by HREM, powder x-ray anomalous dispersion, and powder neutron diffraction investigations. © 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation.

Abstract:

The crystal structure of the newly discovered double-Hg-layer copper oxide superconductor (Hg, Pr)2Ba2(Y, Ca)Cu2O8-δ was studied as a function of chemical doping using neutron and electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM). Rietveld refinements of the structural parameters from neutron powder diffraction data indicate that the oxygen site O3 on the mercury plane is highly defective, being both partially occupied and displaced from the high-symmetry position. The variable concentration of oxygen vacancies partially compensates for the cation doping and, together with the O3 displacement field, makes some of the Hg atoms acquire an unusual pyramidal coordination. HREM images confirm that the structure is of the '2212' type, with very few defects. In some grains, faint superstructure reflections were evidenced by electron diffraction, suggesting that both the oxygen vacancies and the O3 displacement field may order at least on a local scale. © 1995.