Electronic Structure of Nd0.5Y0.5Ba2Cu3O7-δ Single Crystals

• Published in: Surface and interface analysis Vol. 24; no. 9; pp. 657 - 661
• Main Authors: Hartmann, A., Russell, G. J., Matthews, D. N., Cochrane, J. W.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 16.09.1996; Wiley
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electronic structure; Exact sciences and technology; Physics; Properties of type I and type II superconductors; Superconductivity; Vortex lattices ,flux pinning, flux creep; Neodymium oxides; Pinning; Twinning; XRD; Experimental study; Photoelectron spectroscopy; Electronic structure; Multi-element compounds; Critical current; Domain structure; Barium oxides; High-Tc superconductors; X radiation; Copper oxides; Yttrium oxides
• ISSN: 0142-2421; 1096-9918
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9918(19960916)24:9<657::AID-SIA152>3.0.CO;2-7

The new bulk, melt‐textured grown composite Nd0.5Y0.5Ba2Cu3O7‐δ, which also forms large single crystals, has the standard high‐Tc 123 orthorhombic structure when oxygenated and a very high critical current density in a magnetic field of 0.5 T. Both of these results were not anticipated, as the Nd and Y ions are significantly different in size, while the absence of Y211 and/or Nd422 precipitates within the 123 grains indicates that a new pinning mechanism is responsible for the highJc. A possible mechanism has been attributed in part to the partial substitution of Nd3+ in the Ba2+ site, but to further understand this material and to further optimize its processing route for application purposes, we have carried out an XPS study of its electronic structure using cleaved surfaces of single crystals. The data obtained are analysed and discussed in terms of that found for high‐quality Re 123 single crystals where Re is either Nd or Y.