Atomic Scale Structure of Twin Boundary In Y-Ba-Cu-O Superconductors

Abstract

ABSTRACTHigh resolution electron microscopy of the twin boundary layers in YBa2(Cu1-xMx)3O7–8 for x=0 and 0.02 and M=Zn, Fe and Al showed that the boundary widths are ∼1 nm for the pure and the Zn substituted YBa2Cu3O7, 2.5∼3 nm for the Fe and Al substituted oxide. It was found that the lattice plane is shifted across the twin boundary by (1/3 ∼ 1/2)·2d(110) along the boundary. The broadening of the layer for the cases of Fe and Al is also thought to be associated with a reduction of the twin boundary energy, which also leads to an increased twin density.