  A series of new Sr2-xBaxCuO3+y (0 x 0.6) superconductors were prepared using
high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis. A Rietveld refinement based on
powder x-ray diffraction confirms that the superconductors crystallize in the
K2NiF4-type structure of a space group I4/mmm similar to that of La2CuO4 but
with partially occupied apical oxygen sites. It is found that the
superconducting transition temperature Tc of this Ba substituted Sr2CuO3+y
superconductor with constant carrier doping level, i.e., constant d, is
controlled not only by order/disorder of apical-O atoms but also by Ba content.
Tcmax =98 K is achieved in the material with x=0.6 that reaches the record
value of Tc among the single-layer copper oxide superconductors, and is higher
than Tc=95K of Sr2CuO3+y with optimally ordered apical-O atoms. There is
Sr-site disorder in Sr2-xBaxCuO3+y which might lead to a reduction of Tc. The
result indicates that another effect surpasses the disorder effect that is
related either to the increased in-plane Cu-O bond length or to elongated
apical-O distance due to Ba substitution with larger cation size. The present
experiment demonstrates that the optimization of local geometry out of the Cu-O
plane can dramatically enhance Tc in the cuprate superconductors.
