Disorder and transport in cuprates: weak localization and magnetic contributions

We report resistivity measurements in underdoped YBa 2Cu3O6.6 and overdoped Tl 2Ba2CuO6+x single crystals in which the concentration of defects in the CuO (2) planes is controlled by electron irradiation. Low T upturns of the resistivity are observed in both cases for large defect content. In the Tl compound the decrease of conductivity scales as expected from weak localization theory. On the contrary, in YBa 2Cu3O6.6 the much larger low T contribution to the resistivity is proportional to the defect content and might then be associated with a Kondo-like spin flip scattering term. This would be consistent with the results on the magnetic properties induced by spinless defects.