AbstractWe have studied the variation of dissipative effects with doping in the high Tc superconductors La2-xSrxCuO4-y and YBa2Cu3O7-y by studying the lossy component of ac susceptibility as a function of temperature. We find relatively strong excess losses at low temperature in both systems, which indicate stronger flux creep at grain boundaries, in lower level doped ceramic samples produced by a similar process. This effect is more significant in the La2-xSrxCuO4-y (214) system than in the YBa2Cu3O7-y(123) system. We suggest that the microscopic mechanisms of weakening of the order parameter in the grain boundaries may be different in the two systems. In the 214 system, as the charge carrier density in the CuO2 planes is reduced, the spatial fluctuation of the order parameter in the CuO2 planes is enhanced. In the 123 system, the initial removal of O from the sample, which weakens the coupling between planes and increases the spatial fluctuation of the order parameter between CuO2 planes. The grain boundaries are degraded in both systems. The degradation in the 214 samples is more significant than in the 123 samples.
The Superconducting Order Parameter in High-Tc Superconductors – A Point-Contact Spectroscopy Viewpoint