Investigation of Pr valence and relationship between bond covalency and T-c in Y1-xPrxBa2Cu3O7 (x = 0-1)

The valence of Pr and relationship between bond covalency and T-c in Y1-xPrxBa2Cu3O7 (x = 0-1) have been studied using complex chemical bond theory. The results indicate that the depression of superconductivity in Y1-xPrxBa2Cu3O7 can be reasonably explained by bond covalency difference for the bonds between CuO2 plane and CuO chain. T-c decreases with the decreasing of bond covalency difference and reaches zero when bond covalency difference is zero (or bond covalency in CuO2 exceeds that in CuO chain) at Pr concentration 0.55 and valence +3.30. These are in good agreement with the experiments and meanwhile suggest that the valence of Pr is + 3.30 in Y1-xPrxBa2Cu3O7. The results also indicate that for Pr valence less than +3.15, superconductivity always exists for whatever Pr concentration, whereas for Pr with a valence of +4.0, superconductivity disappears as soon as Pr concentration exceeds 0.19. This supports with the viewpoint that higher valence Pr will contribute more electrons to CuO2 plane, filling the mobile holes responsible for conduction. For PrBa2Cu3O7 with no Ba-site Pr, our calculation suggests that it will be a superconductor if the average valence of Pr is less than +3.15. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.