High Pressure Study on High Temperature Superconductors

In spite of the progress on the understanding of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), there is still not sufficient evidence to differentiate one theoretical model from the others. In an attempt to relate the crystal structures of high-temperature superconductors (HTS's) to the mechanism of HTS, we have adopted a chemico-physical approach by examining the pressure-effect on the superconducting and transport properties of superconducting compound systems. Without exception, all compounds exhibiting superconductivity above 77 K, the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, are anisotropic structures consisting of layers of CuO_2 , metal element (R's; where R is R being Ca, Y or rare-earth element) and metal-oxide (MO's; where M is Ca, Ba, Sr, Cu, Hg, Tl, Bi or Pb). We have investigated under pressure the electrical and superconducting properties of four highly related systems with different R's, different numbers of MO layers, different numbers of CuO _2 layers and various anion dopings. The specific systems studied were: RBa_2Cu _3O_7 (R = Y, Yb, Tm, Ho, Dy, Gd, Sm and Nd), R_{1 -x}Pr_{x}Ba _2Cu_3O _7 (R = Yb and Dy), Y_2Ba _4Cu_{5 + m} O_{13 + m} (m = 1, 2 and 3), and Tl_2Ba _2Ca_{L-1}Cu _{2L-1}O_ {4 + 2L-delta} (L= 1,2 and 3, and 0 <= delta <= 0.1). We found that: (1) in R-123, R affects T _{c} due to its chemical pressure which, in turn, can lead to a modification in the electronic structure of HTS's, in contrast to the general belief that R is isolated from the superconducting CuO_2 layers and hence has no influence on T _{c}; (2) the absence of superconductivity in PrBa_2Cu_3O _7 may be due to the low carrier concentration and hole-localization, in contrast to the suggestion of pair-breaking; (3) there may exist a common optimal T_{c} for all members of the homologous series Y_2Ba _4Cu_{5 + m} O_{13 + m}, raising the possibility of a similar situation in other compound families; and (4) We have observed a universal T _{c}-behavior for HTS's. We believe that these observations will form part of an important data-base for the development of a comprehensive microscopic theory on HTS.