Thermal properties of GdSr2RuCu2O8-d based mixtures in the GdSr2RuO6-CuO system

GdSr2RuCu2O8-delta (Gd1212) rutheno-cuprate compound is widely studied because it shows the coexistence of superconductivity and highly anisotropic magnetic ordering in the same cell. Anyway the nature of the magnetic ordering is still debated and the fabrication of macroscopic samples oriented along a crystallographic axis, that could help to clarify its details, appears to be quite difficult. For this reason, accurate investigation on Gd1212 incongruent melting reaction, producing liquid copper oxide and the solid GdSr2RuO6 (Gd1210), appears to be necessary to improve the fabrication of crystallographically oriented bulk superconducting samples. Thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal measurements were performed to analyse the thermal behaviour up to 1200 degrees C and the melting temperatures of different mixtures of Gd1212 with Gd1210 or CuO, in view to perform a scan of the whole CuO-Gd1212-Gd1210 coexistence line of the Gd-Sr-Ru-Cu-O phase diagram. Dependence on the atmosphere and the formation of different spurious phases was also studied. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.