Lattice Instabilities in Cuprate Superconductors: A Possible Limiting Mechanism for $T_{c}$

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20 July 1992

journal article
research article
Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters

Vol. 69 (3) , 482-485
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.69.482

Abstract

High-resolution thermal-expansion experiments on (i) insulating

{La}_{2} Cu O_{4 + δ}

, (ii) its Sr- and Ba-doped metallic counterparts with reduced

T_{c}

values, and (iii)

{Nd}_{1.85} {Ce}_{0.15} Cu O_{4 - δ}

(

T_{c} ≃ 24

K) reveal distinct lattice instabilities at

T_{1} = 32 \pm 1

K and

T_{2} = 36 \pm 1

K.

T_{2}

coincides with

T_{c}^{max}

found upon 15 at.% Sr doping. For

{YBa}_{2}

{Cu}_{3}

O_{6.5}

(

T_{c} = 49

K), a lattice instability occurs at

T = 90 \pm 1

K, i.e., again close to

T_{c}^{max} = 92

K.

Keywords

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