Study synthesis of (Lai1-xGdx)Ba2Cu3O7-δ superconductors at low temperature

Abstract

This study has been conducted on synthesis of (La1-xGdx)Ba2Cu3O7-δ superconductors with the substitution of Gadolinium (Gd) (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) and sintering temperature (700-960oC) variation using a wet-mixing method. Characterization is done by XRD, RAMAN and SEM. XRD characterization results of all samples have shown sharp peaks which indicate that the sample had crystallized well. Search match results showed an impurity phase such as BaCO3, CuO and BaCuO2. Rietveld analyses for all samples gave decreasing lattice parameters (a-axis from 3.9069 to 3.8936 Å, b-axis from 3.9231 to 3.9055 Å and c-axis from 11.8489 to 11.6597 Å) with the addition of Gd contents (from 0.25 to 1.00). Such addition also caused a decrease of lattice parameters (a-axis from 4,901 to 3.8975 Å, b-axis from 3.9658 to 3.8986 Å and c-axis from 11.7254 to 11.6758 Å) with the addition of sintering temperature (from 700 to 960oC). Characterization of FTIR seen the bending vibration absorption by CO32-, absorbs mode apical oxygen of La (Gd) -O-Cu(2) and Cu(1)-O(1)-Cu(2). The addition of sintering temperatures also increases the intensity of the superconducting phase, reduce the intensity of an impurity phase (based on search results match) and increase the particle size (based on SEM characterization and Scherrer calculation).