Selected Topics In Superconductivity

Selected Topics in Superconductivity, reflects the high level of activity in the discovery of high-Tc superconductivity. Out of the 19 articles that it has, a fairly good number of them discuss several important and fundamental aspects of the high-Tc superconductivity. Some of the issues related to the phenomenon of superconductivity in general are discussed in a few of the manuscripts. The remaining articles deal with superconductivity in unconventional and highly correlated metals

This book introduces the main concepts of nonequilibrium phenomena in superconductors. The authors cover both experimentally well-understood topics and problems which physicists could challenge more in view of current theoretical understanding. Some of these topics include thermoelectric phenomena, influence of laser radiation as well as fluctuations in superconductors.

Contents:The First Five Years of High-Tc Superconductivity (K A Müller)Different Factors which Govern the Optimisation of High-Tc Superconductive Cuprates Involving Bi-, Tl or Pb (B Raveau, M Hervieu, C Michel, J Provost, A Maignan, C Simon & D Groult)Superconductivity in Cuprates and Other Oxides (H R Ott)Organic Superconductors with Tc Higher than 10K (T Ishiguro & Y Nogami)Fundamentals of RVB Theory and Some Applications to High Temperature Superconductors (G Baskaran)Anyons and Superconductivity (S Das Sarma)Mott Transition in the Hubbard Model (B S Shastry)Superconducting Pairing in Layered Superconductors (S S Jha)Breaking the Log-Jam in Many-Body Physics: Fermi Surfaces Without Fermi Liquids (P W Anderson)Superconductivity in High Magnetic Fields from a Microscopic Theory (A K Rajagopal)Nonequilibrium Superconductivity (R Tidecks)Neutron Scattering Study of the High-Tc Superconducting System YBa2Cu3O6+x (J Rossat-Mignod et al.)Crystal-Field Excitations in High-Tc Superconducting Materials (A Furrer)Superconducting Granular Films (S-I Kobayashi)Transport Properties in the Mixed State of High Temperature Superconductors (A Freimuth)Physics of Josephson Effect and Recent Advances (A Barone & S Pagano)Tunneling Spectroscopy of Copper Oxide Superconductors (T Ekino & J Akimitsu)Superconductivity and Magnetism in Heavy-Fermion Compounds (F Steglich, U Ahlheim, C D Bredl, C Geibel, M Lang, A Loidl & G Sparn)Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies in Highly Correlated Systems: Heavy Fermion and High-Tc Superconductors (K Asayama)Pulsed Laser and Cylindrical Magnetron Sputter Deposition of Epitaxial Metal Oxide Thin Films (T Venkatesan et al.) Readership: Physicists, chemists and engineers. keywords:

Superconductivity is the ability of certain materials to conduct electrical current with no resistance and extremely low losses. High temperature superconductors, such as La2-xSrxCuOx (Tc=40K) and YBa2Cu3O7-x (Tc=90K), were discovered in 1987 and have been actively studied since. In spite of an intense, world-wide, research effort during this time, a complete understanding of the copper oxide (cuprate) materials is still lacking. Many fundamental questions are unanswered, particularly the mechanism by which high-Tc superconductivity occurs. More broadly, the cuprates are in a class of solids with strong electron-electron interactions. An understanding of such "strongly correlated" solids is perhaps the major unsolved problem of condensed matter physics with over ten thousand researchers working on this topic. High-Tc superconductors also 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 volume brings together new leading-edge research in the field.

Drawing from physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, ceramics, and metallurgy, high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) spans nearly the entire realm of materials science. This volume presents each of those disciplines at an introductory level, such that readers will ultimately be able to read the literature in the field.

In this definitive text in the field, the author gives a detailed account of the major problem of applied superconductivitiy-the stability of superconductors. His work focuses on the application of superconductiors to the construction of magnets. Students and engineers will discover the underlying principles of applied superconductivity and will learn how to solve mathematical problems with advanced methods of calculation.