Dependence of Tc on the oxygen distribution in the Cu-O chains in the high temperature superconductors YBa2Cu3O6+x

It is experimentally confirmed that in YBa2Cu3O6+x ceramics with x fixed within the range 0.4-0.5 the temperature of the superconducting transition Tc can be appreciably reduced by quenching a sample from moderate temperatures between 50degC and 200degC. The theory developed for the description of the ensemble of Cu-O-... chain fragments in orthorhombic phase is applied for the explanation of the experimental results, which can be interpreted as follows. In ortho-II phase the oxygen filling factors in oxygen deficient Cu(1) planes alternate from row to row. Alternation decreases with temperature increasing. Redistribution of the oxygen ions between the rows increases the fraction of short Cu-O-... chain fragments which cannot inject holes into CuO2 planes. This diminishes the hole concentration in the Cu(2) planes and, hence, Tc. Near 150degC the sample undergoes the second order transition into ortho-I phase where rows are equally filled with oxygen. Further increasing of the temperature does not reveal an appreciable reduction of Tc. A comparison of the experiment with the simplest model is performed. (orig.)