Detection of Oxygen Ordering in Superconducting Cuprates

The recent discovery of superconductivity in ceramic cuprates [1] continues to lead to spectacular increase in the critical temperature. A key structural aspect of these materials is thought to be their unexpected electronic properties [2]. Results from several neutron diffraction experiments have now shown that the system Ba sub 2 YCu sub 3 O sub 7 displays long-range order in the disposition of its oxygen vacancies.