Reply to the "Comment on 'Thermal conductivity of YBa2(Cu1-xZnx)(3)O7-delta: Relation between x and delta'"

In the preceding Comment, Williams and Tallon do not agree with our interpr etation of the thermal conductivity peak of YBa2(Cu1 - xZnx)(3)O7 - delta c ompounds as a function of x and delta in terms of a van Hove scenario of hi gh-T-c superconductivity. Their main claim is that Zn doping does not lead to the variation of hole concentration in the CuO2 planes, but rather to pa ir-breaking effects, i.e., the strong scattering limit of the d-wave energy gap parameter. Williams and Tallon quote in their Comment various experime ntal data in order to support this latter interpretation. In this Reply, we argue that the van Hove scenario picture discussed in our commented paper seems consistent for oxygen- and zinc-doped YBa2Cu3O7 - delta. [S0163-1829( 99)02005-6].