High-pressure study of the new Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting compound system

Hydrostatic effects on the superconducting transition temperature of the Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system, resistively, up to 19 kbar are investigated. It is found that pressure has little effect on the superconducting state of Y-Ba-Cu-O, in marked contrast to the behavior of the K2NiF4-phase La-Ba-Cu-O and La-Sr-Cu-O systems. It is suggested that this effect may be due to chemical pressure associated with the smaller Y atoms already present in Y-Ba-Cu-O. X-ray powder-diffraction studies show that the high-temperature superconductivity in Y-Ba-Cu-O can only be attributed to one or more phases with structures different from the cubic perovskite or tetragonal layered ones.