Potassium substitution effects in YBa2Cu3O7-δ superconductor

YBa2-xKxCu3O7-8 compound with x = 0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1 was prepared. The samples were characterized by XRD, Tc, oxygen content and room temperature thermopower measurements. The results shows that by increasing the potassium, the samples go to the underdoped regime. This is due to the depletion of oxygen from the samples. By post annealing of the sample with x = 0.2 and Tc = 78 K in oxygen, the Tc increased up to 93 K which means it is possible to put back the oxygens into the structure.

Keywords:

YBa2Cu3O7-δ , potassium substitution