Electric transport as a probe to unveil microscopic aspects of oxygen-depleted YBCO

Abstract

We report on the characterization of Pt-YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ interfaces, focusing on how oxygen vacancies content ($\delta$) affects electrical transport mechanisms. Our study examines four Pt-YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ samples with varying $\delta$ (0.12 $\leq \delta \leq$ 0.56) using voltage-current measurements across a temperature range. We successfully model the electrical behavior using a Poole-Frenkel conduction framework, revealing that oxygen vacancies create potential wells that trap carriers, directly influencing conduction. We observe that the energy of these traps increases as $\delta$ rises, in agreement with a peak previously detected in optical conductivity measurements. This result supports earlier interpretations, strengthening the proposed connection between oxygen vacancies and the ionization energy associated with impurity bands in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$.