Effects of Zn doping on YBaCuO superconductor

Abstract

In this work we present a study of Zn impurity effects on the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ high T c superconducting ceramics prepared by the solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques, and resistivity measurements are used to characterize the YBa(Cu 1-x Zn x ) 3 O 7-δ samples. The obtained results show that, for example, the value of the transition critical temperature is decreasing up to 80 K caused by the substitution of Zn for Cu in the interval 0≤ x ≤ 0.01. Also, the peritectic transformation of superconducting phase undergoes a displacement to lower temperatures compared with pure YBaCuO. On the basis of the obtained results, the effects of Zn doping on the structural and electronic properties are explained.