Physics Of High-Tc Superconductors

Physics of High-Tc Superconductors highlights the important experiments that provide insights on the concept of high-temperature superconductors. Composed of 11 chapters, this book covers the theories and materials of these superconductors. The opening chapters of this book deal with the concepts at the cutting edge of materials science and the technical details of electron-phonon interaction calculations and their application to high-Tc superconductors. The subsequent chapters describe the various features of the atomic and electronic structure of high-Tc superconductor materials, such as quaternary, metallic, and pseudoperovskite copper oxides. These topics are followed by descriptions of the isotope effect, lattice vibrations, and optical spectra of high-Tc superconductor materials. The discussion then shifts to tunneling, relaxation, and morphological studies of these materials. The concluding chapter focuses on the superconductivity potential of bismates and thallates. Undergraduate materials science students will find this book invaluable.

Table of Contents:
I. Old Materials 1. General Classifications 2. Lattice Instabilities in Elements, Binaries and Pseudobinaries II. Old Theory 1. Electron-Ion and Electron Phonon-Interactions in Simple Metals 2. Simple Models 3. Transition Metals and Their Compounds 4. Solving the Gap Equation 5. Normal-State PropertiesIII. New Materials 1. Chevrel Phases 2. Perovskite Superconductivity 3. Copper Oxides 4. Quaternary Copper Oxides 5. Oxygen Vacancy Ordering in YBa2Cu3O7-x 6. Copper and Other Cation Replacements 7. Normal-State Transport Properties 8. Pressure Effects 9. Metallic (But Not Superconducting) Copper Oxide Pseudoperovskites IV. New Theory 1. Aims and Scope 2. Electronic Structure of BaPb1-x BixO3 3. Formal Valence in the Cuprates 4. One-Electron Structures of La2CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O7-x 5. Semiconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in La2CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O6 6. Electron-Phonon Interactions in (La, M )2CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O7-x Alloys 7. Defect Electronic Structure 8. Localization and Marginal Dimensionality 9. Normal-State Properties 10. Defect-Enhanced Electron-Phonon Interactions 11. Coupling Constants and Gap Anisotropy 12. Exotic Theories and Ultimate Causes 13. Selective Phonon Condensation V. Isotope Effect 1. Old Materials 2. Cuprates 3. Fictive Phonons and the Isotope Effect 4. Lattice Instabilities and Anharmonicity 5. Physical Implications of Isotope Shifts VI. Lattice Vibrations 1. Metallic, Covalent and Ionic Forces 2. Lattice Instabilities and Phonon Spectra 3. Infrared and Raman Lattice Vibration Spectra 4. Sound Velocities, Internal Friction and Lattice Instabilities VII. Optical Spectra 1. Samples and Surface Preparation 2. Composite Reflectance Data 3. Single crystal YBCO Reflectivities VIII. Tunneling 1. Point Contacts and Dead Layers 2. Break Junctions 3. Gap Anisotropy of Epitaxial Thin Films 4. Physical Model of Cuprate Junctions IX. Relaxation Studies 1. Sound Velocity and Attenuation 2. Cu NMR Relaxation Rates in YBCO X. Materials Morphology 1. Intergranular Weak Links 2. Epitaxial Films 3. Single Crystals 4. Critical Field Anisotropy and Macroscopic Parameters 5. Meissner Effect and Type III Superconductivity 6. Twin Boundaries and Giant Flux Creep 7. Microscopic Inhomogeneities XI. Bismates and Thallates Appendices A. Macroscopic Parametric Relations B. Microscopic Theory C. Crystal Chemistry First Author Index Subject Index