Electron tunnelling spectroscopy as a research tool has strongly advanced understanding of superconductivity. This book explains the physics and instrumentation behind the advances illustrated in beautiful images of atoms, rings of atoms and exotic states in high temperature superconductors, and summarizes the state of knowledge that has resulted.

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.

The purpose of this book is to offer the high-Tc community a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review on bulk processing with the hope that the book would serve in part as an updated review for expert scientists and in part as a reference/text book on processing for young scientists/graduate students and those who wish to keep track of advances and technological trends in HTSC.Readers in the superconductor science/technology/education areas will find this book prepared by the world's leading experts informative and useful.

Superconductivity has become one of the most intensely studied physical phenomena of our times, with tremendous potential to revolutionize fields as diverse as computing and transportation. This book describes the methods, established results, and recent advances in the field. The goal is to present recently developed theoretical models in light of the long-sought aim of achieving the effect at very high temperatures. The book includes a detailed review of various mechanisms, including phononic, magnetic, and electronic models. The authors focus on the phenomenon of induced superconductivity in the high-temperature oxides, particularly the high-transition-temperature cuprates. They also discuss a variety of low-temperature superconducting systems in conventional materials and organics. The book links the crucial experiments with the most current theories, offering a unified description of the phenomenon. All researchers (and graduate-level) students involved with work in superconductivity will find this an invaluable resource, including solid-state and condensed-matter physicists and chemists, and materials scientists.

Since the discovery in 1986 of high temperature superconductors by J. G. Bednorz and K. A. Müller, a considerable progress has been made and several important scientific problems have emerged. Within this NATO Advanced Study Institute our intention was to focus mainly on the controversial topic of the symmetry of the superconducting gap and given the very short coherence length, the role of fluctuations. The Institute on ‘The Gap Symmetry and Fluctuations in High- Superconductors’ took place in the “Institut d’Etudes Scientifiques de Cargèse” in Corsica, France, between 1 - 13 September 1997. The 110 participantsfrom 18 countries (yet 30 nationalities) including 23 full time lecturers, have spent two memorable weeks in this charming Mediterranean resort. All lecturers were asked to prepare pedagogical papers to clearly present the central physical idea behind specific model or experiment. The better understanding of physics of high temperature superconductivity is certainly needed to guide the development of applications of these materials in high and weak current devices.

This volume brings the reader up to date on transport phenomena, including electrical and thermal conductivity and infrared properties. In addition, electron tunneling and the characteristics and applications of films are discussed; the preparation of the necessary samples has proceeded, and a sizeable body of reproducible data has become available. Pressure effects are also presented; considerable progress has been made in relating them to the crystallographic and electronic structure of high temperature superconductors. The preparation and characterization of bulk samples is also reviewed.