The International Symposium on Superconductivity, which has been held annu ally since 1988, is a forum for presenting the most up-to-date information about a broad range of research and development in superconductivity, from funda mental aspects to applications. More than 10 years have passed since the discovery of oxide superconductors and since various developments of applications began. It may be said that the prospects for application of oxide superconductors recently have opened up. Great progress has been made toward practical use, for example, of the flywheel, which uses bulk materials, and the high-performance cryo-cooled magnet made of bismuth wire. These were the results of persistent efforts to develop materials from the viewpoint of materials science and engineering. Also important is the progress in comprehensive understanding of high temperature superconductivity. Unique electronic properties of cuprates such as the non-Fermi liquid normal state, spin-charge separation, spin gap, and d-wave symmetry were discussed at the symposium, as were the unique electromagnetic properties resulting from the low dimensionality of cuprates. In the field of new superconductors, many exotic materials have been discovered since 1986. A decade of work with cuprate superconductors is reviewed in this proceedings, and several of the newest materials are presented. These papers will be instructive for many researchers and for students who are to enter this field.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Advances in Organic Conductors and Superconductors" that was published in Crystals

The 11th International Symposium on Superconductivity was held November 16-19, 1998, in Fukuoka, Japan. Convened annually since 1988, the symposium covers the whole field of superconductivity from fundamental physics and chemistry to new applications. At the 11th Symposium, there was increased interest reported in the development of trial devices using bismuth wires and yttrium-based bulk materials. Among the presentations were those that clearly defined the development targets for next-generation yttrium-based wires and bulk materials and single-flux quantum (SFQ) circuits. Other popular topics were high-temperature superconductivity applications such as SQUIDs, microwave filters, and cryocooler-cooled magnets. With more than 600 participants from 18 countries, the symposium provided an excellent forum for exchanges of the most recent information in the field of superconductivity.

Intense recent activity in the field of high-temperature superconductivity both in Japan and in the rest of the world was discussed at the First International Symposium on Superconductivity held in Nagoya in August 1988. Current research and development efforts by major Japanese companies in the field of high-temperature superconductivity are reported by leading company scientists, to give an overview of the high level of activity in the area. Progress in the development of new materials and recent theoretical work is reported both from Japanese and international researchers. Contributions are organized by topic, with such topics as crystal chemistry and electronic structure, processing and microstructure, tapes and thick films, wires and coils, and thin film processing and properties. Future applications of superconductivity including magnetic levitation vehicles, electronics based on Josephson junctions, power delivery, energy storage, ship propulsion and magnetic resonance imaging are particularly stressed.

In contrast to research on the fundamental mechanisms of High-Temperature Superconductivity, in recent years we have seen enormous developments in the fabrication and application of High-Tc-superconductors. The two volumes of High Temperature Superconductivity provide a survey of the state of the technology and engineering applications of these materials. They comprise extended original research papers and technical review articles written by physicists, chemists, materials scientists and engineers, all of them noted experts in their fields. The interdisciplinary and strictly application-oriented coverage should benefit graduate students and academic researchers in the mentioned areas as well as industrial experts. Volume 1 "Materials" focuses on major technical advancements in High-Tc materials processing for applications. Volume 2 "Engineering Applications" covers numerous application areas where High-Tc superconductors are making tremendous impact.