Preparation and characterization of alkaline-earth substituted superconducting La₂CuO₄

Metallic-oxygen deficient compounds in ternary systems MOz.sbnd;La2O3CuO with M = Ca, Sr, Ba have been prepared by coprecipitation and subsequent low-temperature solid-state reaction, as well as by high-temperature reaction from the corresponding oxides and carbonates. Substitution of trivalent La by divalent alka-line-earth ions results in sharp drops in resistivity in the 30 - 40 K range, first discovered for the Ba-La-Cu-O system. Room-temperature X-ray powder diffraction shows the presence of a perovskite-like layer-type phase of K2NiF4-type to be responsible for the high Tc super-conductivity. For single-phase samples of La2CuO4 composition, the resistivity drop and especially the onset of the diamagnetic susceptibility are enhanced, and occur near the composition where an orthorhombic-to-tetragonal structural phase transition is detected by X-ray diffraction. © 1987.