Elastic Properties of the Zn Substituted ErBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7 - δ] Superconductor.

Ultrasonic longitudinal and shear velocity in superconducting ErBa[sub 2](Cu[sub 3-x]Zn[sub x])O[sub 7-δ] (x = 0, 0.01 and 0.05) have been measured using the pulse-echo-overlap method at frequency 5-10 MHz in the temperature range 80-300 K. Longitudinal velocity hysteresis and elastic anomaly were observed in the x = 0 sample. Similar hysteresis was not observed in the x = 0.01 and 0.05 samples. The characteristic Debye temperature and electron-phonon coupling constant were calculated. The absence of hysteresis for longitudinal velocity in the x = 0.01 and 0.05 samples may be due to the spin correlation at the CuO[sub 2] planes which affects the electron-phonon interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]