AC susceptibility and electrical properties of rare-earth- and alkali metal-substituted (Tl0.7M0.3)Sr2CaCu2O7 with M=Er, Gd, La, Na, K and Rb

The effects of rare-earth elements M=Er, Gd and La, and alkali metals M=Na, K and Rb substitution on (Tl0.7M0.3)Sr2CaCu2O7 (Tl-1212) are reported. The rare-earth elements were chosen by considering the ionic radius, i.e., from the smallest (Er+3) to the largest (La+3) ion. The samples were prepared via the solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the presence of major Tl-1212 and minor Tl-1201 and Ca0.3Sr0.7CuO2 phase in almost all samples. The resistance versus temperature curves for the rare-earth-substituted samples showed onset temperature between 87 and 90K and zero resistance temperature between 69 and 81K. Alkali metal substitutions exhibited Tl-1212 phase but showed no superconducting transition although the electrical resistivity was much lower than the rare-earth-substituted samples. AC susceptibility measurement showed superconducting transition T-c, between 59 and 80K for the rare-earth element-substituted samples. The average grain size, the transition temperature, T-c and the peak temperature T-p of the imaginary part of the susceptibility decreased as the ionic radius of the rare earths was reduced.