Abstract
A sample of RuSr2GdCu2O8, in which ferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist at low temperatures, has been studied by variable temperature synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. The structure is found to be tetragonal, P4/mmm between 295 and 10 K. As RuSr2GdCu2O8 is cooled the in-plane CuO bond length decreases whilst the in-plane Ru–O bond remains constant, which results in the increase of the bond mismatch between the two in-plane bonds. This increases the rotation of the RuO6 octahedra around c slightly as the temperature decreases. Surprisingly the only evidence for a structural anomaly accompanying the ferromagnetic ordering of the Ru moments at 132 K is a change in the atomic displacement factor of the oxygen atoms within the CuO2 planes.
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