Observation of an oxygen isotope effect in YBa₂Cu₃O₇

Author(s)

Kevin J. Leary, University of California - Berkeley
Hans Conrad zur Loye, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow
Steven W. Keller, University of California - Berkeley
Tanya A. Faltens, University of California - Berkeley
William K. Ham, University of California - Berkeley
James N. Michaels, University of California - Berkeley
Angelica M. Stacy, University of California - Berkeley

Document Type

Article

Subject Area(s)

Chemistry

Abstract

A small decrease in T_c of 0.3 K to 0.5 K is observed when as much as 90% of the ¹⁶O in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ is substituted with¹⁸O. This result is consistent with our observation that there is an oxygen isotope effect in La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO₄, but in contrast with previous reports that there is no isotope effect for YBa₂Cu₃O₇. This new result suggests that phonons play an important role in the electron-pairing mechanism in YBa₂Cu₃O₇.

Publication Info

Published in Physical Review Letters, Volume 59, Issue 11, 1987, pages 1236-1239.

Rights

© 1987 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.1236

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.1236

PACS: 74.70.Ya