Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Kusadasi, Turkey, July 26-August 8, 1998

This volume contains the proceedings of The Second Polish-US Conf- ence on High Temperature Superconductivity which was held August 18-21, 1998 in Karpacz, Poland. The conference followed The First Polish-US C- ference on High Temperature Superconductivity organized in 1995, proce- ings of which were published by Springer-Verlag in 1996 (Recent Devel- ments in High Temperature Superconductivity, Lecture Notes in Physics 475). High Temperature Superconductivity (HTSC) in complex copper oxides has become a household name after twelve years of intense research following its discovery in 1986 by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Miiller. Because of the rapid growth of the HTSC field, there is a need for periodic summary and conden- tion both for scientists working in the field and, especially, for young resear- ers entering the field of oxide materials. Following the First Conference, it was recognized that an extended format of lectures perfectly satisfied that need, providing adequate time for experts from the international community to fully introduce and develop complex ideas. Thus, the format of the Second Conference brought together by cooperating scientists from the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research of the Polish Academy of Science at Wroctaw, Northern Illinois University, and Argonne National Laboratory remained mostly unchanged. Again, we were delighted to receive enthusiastic responses from distinguished US and Polish scientists who were invited to p- ticipate.

With the advent of High Temperature Superconductivity and the increasing reliability of fabrication techniques, superconductor technology has moved firmly into the mainstream of academic and industrial research. There is currently no single source of practical information giving guidance on which technique to use for any particular category of superconductor. An increasing number of materials scientists and electrical engineers require easy access to practical information, sensible advice and guidance on 'best-practice' and reliable, proven fabrication and characterisation techniques.The Handbook will be the definitive collection of material describing techniques for the fabrication and analysis of superconducting materials. In addition to the descriptions of techniques, authoritative discussions written by leading researchers will give guidance on the most appropriate technique for a particular situation.Characterisation and measurement techniques will form an important part of the Handbook, providing researchers with a standard reference for experimental techniques. The tutorial style description of these techniques makes the Handbook particularly suitable for use by graduate students.The Handbook will be supported by a comprehensive web site which will be updated with new data as it emerges.The Handbook has six main sections: -- Fundamentals of Superconductivity - characteristic properties, elementary theory, critical current of type II superconductors-- Processing - bulk materials, wires and tapes, thick and think films, contact techniques-- Characterisation Techniques - structure/microstructure, measurement and interpretation of electromagnetic properties,measurement of physics properties-- Materials - characteristic properties of low and high Tc materials-- Applications - high current applications, trapped flux devices, high frequency devices, josephson junction devic

This book provides expert coverage of modern and novel aspects of the study of vortex matter, dynamics, and pinning in nanostructured and multi-component superconductors. Vortex matter in superconducting materials is a field of enormous beauty and intellectual challenge, which began with the theoretical prediction of vortices by A. Abrikosov (Nobel Laureate). Vortices, vortex dynamics, and pinning are key features in many of today’s human endeavors: from the huge superconducting accelerating magnets and detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which opened new windows of knowledge on the universe, to the tiny superconducting transceivers using Rapid Single Flux Quanta, which have opened a revolutionary means of communication. In recent years, two new features have added to the intrinsic beauty and complexity of the subject: nanostructured/nanoengineered superconductors, and the discovery of a range of new materials showing multi-component (multi-gap) superconductivity. In this book, leading researchers survey the most exciting and important recent developments in the field. Topics covered include: the use of scanning Hall probe microscopy to visualize interactions of a single vortex with pinning centers; Magneto-Optical Imaging for investigating what vortex avalanches are, why they appear, and how they can be controlled; and the vortex interactions responsible for the second magnetization peak. Other chapters discuss nanoengineered pinning centers of vortices for improved current-carrying capabilities, current anisotropy in cryomagnetic devices in relation to the pinning landscape, and the new physics associated with the discovery of new superconducting materials with multi-component superconductivity. The book offers something for almost everybody interested in the field: from experimental techniques to visualize vortices and study their dynamics, to a state-of-the-art theoretical microscopic approach to multicomponent superconductivity.

The idea for this book originated from an International Conference on Mag netic Structures in Superconductors organized by John R. Clem and the author at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in September of 1973. Large parts of the book evolved from lectures given to graduate students at the University of TUbingen during the past three years. It is the purpose of this book to provide an introduction to the many features of magnetic flux structures in superconductors and to discuss the this field. Here, in addition to the static proper recent developments in ties of magnetic flux structures, the time-dependent phenomena represent an important subject including flux flow and the transport effects in supercon ductors. Throughout the book the emphasis is placed on the physical phenom ena and the experimental results. We do not attempt a general introduction to superconductivity. Except for a brief discussion of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, with respect to the theoretical developments we only give an outline and refer to the original papers or other reviews for the detail of the calculations. The book is intended for researchers and graduate students interested in the subject of magnetic flux structures in superconductors. It may serve as supplementary material for a graduate course on low-temperature solid state physics. During recent years technological applications of supercon ducting materials are becoming increasingly important. Here the static and dynamic behavior of magnetic flux structures playa distinguished role. The book may be helpful for people envolved in these engineering aspects of superconductivity.

Studies of High Temperature Superconductors, Volume 42 - Vortex Physics

A Josephson Junction is a type of electronic circuit capable of switching at very high speeds when operated at temperatures approaching absolute zero. The Josephson Junction exploits the phenomenon of superconductivity, the ability of certain materials to conduct electric current with practically zero resistance. This book presents new and important research in superconductivity. This book presents leading research from around the world in this exciting field. This includes fabrication techniques, unconventional superconductors, Josephson tunnel junctions, Josephson vortex behaviour, thermomagnetic shock waves and finite temperature effects.

This book contains the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the Balkan Physical Union (BPU-6), held in Istanbul, Turkey, in August 2006. The BPU-6 Conference covers the most important results and trends in physics, including: Nuclear physics and nuclear energy, gravitation and cosmology, alternative sources of energy, econophysics, biophysics and medical physics, history of philosophy of physics, meteorology and instrumentation.

High-Tc superconductors have significant potential for applications in technologies ranging from electric power generation and transmission to digital electronics. This ability to carry large amounts of current can be applied to electric power devices such as motors and generators, and to electricity transmission in power lines. For example, superconductors can carry as much as 100 times the amount of electricity of ordinary copper or aluminium wires of the same size. Many universities, research institutes and companies are working to develop high-Tc superconductivity applications and considerable progress has been made. This book presents leading research from around the world in this exciting field.