  Fluoride-doped iron-based oxypnictides containing rare-earth gadolinium
(GdFeAsO0.8F0.2) and co-doping with yttrium (Gd0.8Y0.2FeAsO0.8F0.2) have been
prepared via conventional solid state reaction at ambient pressure. The
non-yttrium substituted oxypnictide show superconducting transition as high as
43.9 K from temperature dependent resistance measurements with the Meissner
effect observed at a lower temperature of 40.8 K from temperature dependent
magnetization measurements. By replacing a small amount of gadolinium with
yttrium Tc was observed to be lowered by 10 K which might be caused by a change
in the electronic or magnetic structures since the crystal structure was not
altered.
