Jonker "Pecir" Analysis of Oxide Superconductors

Data for the normal state of the superconducting oxide systems YBa₂Cu₃O_6+y, and the nonsuperconducting system La₃Ba₃Cu₆O_12.5+y, when plotted as thermoelectric coefficient versus logarithm of conductivity, exhibit Jonker "pear" behavior, confirming the semiconducting character of these materials. The symmetry of the plots indicates similar conduction parameters (density-of-states (DOS), transport constants, and mobilities) for p - and n -type mechanisms. Band gaps on the order of 0.5 eV are obtained. DOS—mobility products for the above-mentioned systems and La_2-xBa_xCuO₄ and Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ scale roughly according to the density of copper ions in these materials and fall in the range 10²⁰ to 10²¹ (cm·V·s)⁻¹. Assuming DOS equal to copper content results in mobilities on the order of 0.15 cm²·V⁻¹· s⁻¹. These results are discussed in terms of possible semiconduction mechanisms.