High-pressure study of the Raman modes in YBa2(Cu0.96Ni0.04)4O8

Abstract

We present a study of the Raman phonons in YBa2(Cu0.96Ni0.04)4O8 under hydrostatic pressure in the superconducting phase. A comparison with our earlier work on the undoped YBa2Cu4O8 shows that the pressure coefficients of two vibrational modes involving oxygen atoms differ significantly from those of the corresponding modes in the undoped material. These are the O(1) chain mode which shifts 33% faster and the O(2)-O(3) in-phase mode which shifts 23% slower than the undoped counterparts. The other Raman modes in the Ni-doped sample shift in a manner similar to the undoped material. The observed behavior of the O(1) chain and O(2)-O(3) in-phase modes in YBa2(Cu0.96Ni0.04)4O8 under pressure and the softening of the Cu(1) Ag mode frequency with increasing Ni doping suggest that the Ni atoms substitute for the Cu atoms in the chain, which in turn decreases the compressibility in the vicinity of the Cu(Ni) chain atom.