Magnetic susceptibility analysis on Zn-doping in the high Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O7

Localized magnetic moments are known to destroy superconductivity in conventional superconductors. In the case of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO), the nonmagnetic ion Zn has a very strong impact on suppressing the superconducting transition temperature (T_c). YBCO loses all superconductivity when only 10% of the Cu is substituted with Zn.
ootnotetextR. E. Walstedt et al. Phys. Rev. B, 48, 10646 (1993) In this project, we have investigated the magnetic susceptibility for a number of Zn doping levels in samples with the nominal composition YBa₂(Cu_1-xZn_x)₃O₇. We observe the development of Curie-Weiss paramagnetism for some Zn compositions, and will address whether the associated paramagnetic moments might cause magnetic pair-breaking.