Crystal Growth and Characterization of HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ Superconductor with the Highest Critical Temperature at Ambient Pressure

Bastien Loret (1, 2) , Anne Forget (2) , Jean-Baptiste Moussy (2) , Sylvie Poissonnet (3) , Patrick Bonnaillie (3) , Gaston Collin (4) , Pierre Thuéry (5) , Alain Sacuto (1) , Dorothée Colson (2)

1 MPQ (UMR_7162) - Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques
2 LNO - Laboratoire Nano-Magnétisme et Oxydes
3 SRMP - Service de recherches de métallurgie physique
4 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
5 LCMCE - Laboratoire de Chimie Moléculaire et de Catalyse pour l'Energie (ex LCCEF)

We report an original procedure for the elaboration of very high quality single crystals of superconducting HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ mercury cuprates. These single crystals are unique with very high quality surface paving the way for spectroscopic, transport and thermodynamic probes in order to understand the hole-doped cuprate phase diagram. The superconductivity transition width of about 2 K indicates they are homogeneous. Annealing allows to optimize Tc up to Tc max = 133 K. We show for the first time that with adequate heat treatment, Hg-1223 can be largely under-doped and its doping level controlled. Importantly, the crystal structure was studied in detail by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and we have identified the signature of the under-doping by a detailed sample characterization and micro-Raman spectroscopy measurements.

Domaines: Matériaux

Bastien Loret, Anne Forget, Jean-Baptiste Moussy, Sylvie Poissonnet, Patrick Bonnaillie, et al.. Crystal Growth and Characterization of HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ Superconductor with the Highest Critical Temperature at Ambient Pressure. Inorganic Chemistry, 2017, 56, pp.9396-9399. ⟨10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b01372⟩. ⟨cea-01573932⟩