This book is devoted to superconductivity, which is one of the most interesting problems in physics. In accordance with the outline of the book, it treats the key problems in the field of superconductivity, in particular, it discusses the mechanism(s) of superconductivity. This book is useful for researchers and graduate students in the fields of solid state physics, quantum field theory, and many-body theory.

Thin films have an extremely broad range of applications from electronics and optics to new materials and devices. Collaborative and multidisciplinary efforts from physicists, materials scientists, engineers and others have established and advanced a field with key pillars constituting (i) the synthesis and processing of thin films, (ii) the understanding of physical properties in relation to the nanometer scale, (iii) the design and fabrication of nano-devices or devices with thin film materials as building blocks, and (iv) the design and construction of novel tools for characterization of thin films.Against the backdrop of the increasingly interdisciplinary field, this book sets off to inform the basics of thin film physics and thin film devices. Readers are systematically introduced to the synthesis, processing and application of thin films; they will also study the formation of thin films, their structure and defects, and their various properties — mechanical, electrical, semiconducting, magnetic, and superconducting. With a primary focus on inorganic thin film materials, the book also ventures on organic materials such as self-assembled monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett films.This book will be effective as a teaching or reference material in the various disciplines, ranging from Materials Science and Engineering, Electronic Science and Engineering, Electronic Materials and Components, Semiconductor Physics and Devices, to Applied Physics and more. The original Chinese publication has been instrumental in this purpose across many Chinese universities and colleges.

Organic Superconductors is an introduction to organic conductors and superconductors and a review of the current status of the field. First, organic conductors are described, then the structures and electronic properties of organic superconductors are discussed, illustrated with examples of typical compounds. The book deals in detail with theories of the mechanism of superconductivity, and more briefly with spin-density waves. The design, principle, and synthesis of organic superconductors are also described. This second edition covers the research activities of the last few years.

The International Winter School on Electronic Properties of High-Temperature Superconductors, held between March 7-14, 1992, in Kirchberg, (Tyrol) Austria, was the sixth in a series of meetings to be held at this venue. Four of the earlier meetings were dedicated to issues in the field of conducting polymers, while the winter school held in 1990 was devoted to the new discipline of high-T c superconductivity. This year's meeting constituted a forum not only for the large number of scientists engaged in high-Tc research, but also for those involved in the new and exciting field of fullerenes. Many of the issues raised during the earlier winter schools on conducting polymers, and the last one on high-T c superconductivity, have taken on a new significance in the light of the discovery of superconducting C materials. 60 The Kirchberg meetings are organized in the style of a school where expe rienced scientists from universities, research laboratories and industry have the opportunity to discuss their most recent results, and where students and young scientists can learn about the present status of research and applications from some of the most eminent workers in their field. In common with the previous winter school on high-Tc superconductors, the of the cuprate superconductors. present one focused on the electronic properties In addition, consideration was given to related compounds which are relevant to the understanding of the electronic structure of the cuprates in the normal state, to other oxide superconductors and to fulleride superconductors.

This second edition has been brought up to date by the inclusion of an extensive new chapter on aspects relevant to high-temperature superconductors. The new edition provides researchers, engineers and other scientists with an introduction to the field and makes useful supplementary reading for graduate students in low-temperature physics.

Topological defects are generic in continuous media. In the relativistic quantum vacuum they are known as cosmic strings, in superconductors as quantized flux lines, and in superfluids, low-density atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and neutron stars as quantized vortex lines. This collection of articles by leading scientists presents a modern treatment of the physics of vortex matter, mainly applied to unconventional superconductors and superfluids but with extensions to other areas of physics.

This volume contains the lectures of "Earlier and Recent Aspects of Super conductivity", the 18th course of the International School of Materials Science and Technology, which was held at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice (Sicily), Italy, July 4-16, 1989. In the wake of the discovery of high-Tc oxides many international confer ences have been held on the subject, mainly intended for those already working in high-Tc research. Hence, the idea evolved of organizing a school dedicated to students and young scientists entering the field of superconductivity. The intention was to give a broad perspective of the field with its eight decades of research history and thus to link existing fields of knowledge and gain con tinuity. The new high-Tc cuprates were integrated, both historically and by subject, into the field of classical superconductivity, as well as into its newer branches of heavy-fermion, organic and chalcogenide superconductors. Even the organizers and the lecturers were surprised how many cross-links became apparent between the different branches of superconductivity. The lectures have been grouped into four parts, namely: - Fundamental properties of superconductors - Coherence-length-related properties - Electronic and magnetic properties - Theoretical models The number of applications from potential participants greatly exceeded the capacity of the facilities available. Ultimately, 100 students from 25 coun tries were selected to attend the course. The remarkable surroundings of the medieval town of Erice promoted a most stimulating but nevertheless relaxed atmosphere.

This book provides the reader with a detailed theoretical treatment of the key mechanisms of superconductivity, up to the current state of the art (phonons, magnons, plasmons). In addition, the book describes the properties of key superconducting compounds that are of most interest for science and its applications today. For many years there has been a search for new materials with higher values of the main parameters, such as the critical temperature and the critical current. At present, the possibility to observe superconductivity at room temperature has become perfectly realistic. The book is especially concerned with high Tc systems, such as the high Tc oxides, hydrides with record values of the critical temperature under high pressure, nanoclusters, etc. A number of interesting novel superconducting systems have been discovered recently. Among them: topological materials, interface systems, intercalated graphene. The book contains rigorous derivations, based on statistical mechanics and many-body theory. The book is also providing qualitative explanations of the main concepts and results, which makes it accessible and interesting for a broader readership.

This book describes fundamentals of the superconducting state and latest developments in the field. It represents the state of the art status of the theory, and key experiments for both historically important conventional superconductors and novel technologically significant superconductors.

This book provides a comparison of the different chemical structures, normal state properties, and simplest superconducting properties of all known classes of layered superconductors. It introduces the three phenomenological models used to describe such systems, and will guide young researchers hoping to produce a room-temperature superconductor.