Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Observation Of An Oxygen Isotope Effect In Yba2Cu3O7, Kevin J. Leary, Hans Conrad Zur Loye, Steven W. Keller, Tanya A. Faltens, William K. Ham, James N. Michaels, Angelica M. Stacy

Faculty Publications

A small decrease in T_c of 0.3 K to 0.5 K is observed when as much as 90% of the ¹⁶O in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ is substituted with¹⁸O. This result is consistent with our observation that there is an oxygen isotope effect in La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO₄, but in contrast with previous reports that there is no isotope effect for YBa₂Cu₃O₇. This new result suggests that phonons play an important role in the electron-pairing mechanism in YBa₂Cu₃O₇.