Structural analysis of the RE3Ba5Cu8O18 (RE = Dy, Gd, Ho, Sm, Y, Yb) superconductor system

Abstract In this paper, we report the synthesis and structural characterization of the RE3Ba5Cu8O18 (RE = Dy, Gd, Ho, Sm, Y, Yb) system, which adds to the findings reported by Aliabadi, et aL, who determined a critical temperature (TC) of ~ 100 K for the superconducting Y3Ba5Cu8O18 system and evaluated its structural response in a sample. The new RE3Ba5Cu8O18 system was produced using the solid-state reaction method and a similar thermal process as the one used for the superconductor RE: 123. The experimental results obtained with X-ray diffraction and the Rietveld analysis showed that these samples had the expected crystal structure. However, it was obvious that the presence of non-superconducting phases did not affect the superconducting transition temperature. Moreover, magnetic studies revealed that RE3Ba5Cu8O18 samples showed a superconductivity transition within a temperature range of 80 - 93 K depending on the rare earth.