Two-Dimensional Nanogranularity of the Oxygen Chains in the YBa2Cu3O6.33 Superconductor

The organization of dopants in high-temperature superconductors provides complex topological geometries that control superconducting properties. This makes the study of dopants’ spatial distribution of fundamental importance. The mobile oxygen ions, y, in the CuO2 plane of YBa2Cu3O6 + y (0.33 < y < 0.67) form ordered chains which greatly affect the transport properties of the material. Here, we visualize and characterize the two-dimensional spatial organization of these oxygen chains using scanning micro X-ray diffraction measurements in transmission mode on a thin single-crystal slab with y = 0.33 (Tc = 7 K) near the critical doping for the insulator-to-metal transition. We show the typical landscape of percolation made of a granular spatial pattern due the oxygen chains segregating in quasi-one-dimensional needles of ortho-II (O-II) phase embedded in an insulating matrix with low density of disordered oxygen interstitials.