These lectures are concerned with the application of high temperature superconductors to both passive and active high-frequency devices.The central issue addressed is the electrodynamics of granular superconductors, particularly where grain boundaries (either natural or synthetic) act as Josephson weak-links. Grain boundaries are responsible for residual dissipation and for unwanted dependence of the electromagnetic properties on ambient magnetic fields and on elevated power level. Properly controlled, similar weak-links are the key to high sensitivity dc and rf SQUIDS at readily accessible temperatures, and to modulators, mixers and detectors. Such structures may conveniently lead to superconductive electronic devices as well as coherent sources of radiation in the very far infrared.

“The Frontiers of Knowhledge (to coin a phrase) are always on the move. - day’s discovery will tomorrow be part of the mental furniture of every research worker. By the end of next week it will be in every course of graduate lectures. Within the month there will be a clamour to have it in the undergraduate c- riculum. Next year, I do believe, it will seem so commonplace that it may be assumed to be known by every schoolboy. “The process of advancing the line of settlements, and cultivating and c- ilizing the new territory, takes place in stages. The original papers are p- lished, to the delight of their authors, and to the critical eyes of their readers. Review articles then provide crude sketch plans, elementary guides through the forests of the literature. Then come the monographs, exact surveys, mapping out the ground that has been won, adjusting claims for priority, putting each fact or theory into its place” (J. M. Ziman, Principles of the Theory of Solids (Cambridge University Press, 1972) p.v). The main purpose of the book is to present the mechanism of - perconductivity discovered in 1986 by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Müller, and to discuss the physics of superconductors. The last chapter of the book presents analysis of tunneling measurements in cuprates. The book is - dressed to researchers and graduate students in all branches of exact sciences.

This is the first volume of a comprehensive two-volume treatise on superconductivity that represents the first such publication since the earlier work by R. Parks. It systematically reviews the basic physics and recent advances in the field. Leading researchers describe the state of the art in conventional phonon-induced superconductivity, high-Tc superconductivity, and novel superconductivity. After an introduction and historical overview, the leaders in the special fields of research give a comprehensive survey of the basics and the state of the art in chapters covering the entire field of superconductivity, including conventional and unconventional superconductors. Important new results are reported in a manner intended to stimulate further research. Numerous illustrations, diagrams and tables make this book especially useful as a reference work for students, teachers, and researchers. The second volume treats novel superconductors.