High T_c Oxide Superconductors

Extract

This issue of the MRS BULLETIN is devoted to high T_c superconductivity. It is the sequel to a previous series of articles on the same subject which appeared in the MRS BULLETIN in January 1989. While the articles in the January 1989 issue emphasized the families of high T_c superconducting oxides known at that rime, as well as novel processing techniques and thin films, the papers in this issue focus on the physical properties of high T_c oxide superconductors.

The quality of polycrystalline and single-crystal bulk and thin-film materials has improved to the point where researchers can now make reliable measurements of many physical properties representative of the intrinsic behavior of these materials. As a result, a broad spectrum of important issues such as the nature of the electronic structure, the type of superconducting electron pairing, the magnitude and temperature dependence of the superconducting energy gap, the behavior of fluxoids in the vortex state, etc., can be addressed meaningfully. Presently emerging is a consistent picture of the physical properties of the high T_c oxides, which will form the foundation to eventually developing an appropriate theory for the normal and superconducting states of these remarkable materials.