1st Edition

Superconductivity of Metals and Cuprates

By J.R Waldram Copyright 1996
    424 Pages
    by CRC Press

    424 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Superconductivity of Metals and Cuprates covers the basic physics of superconductivity, both the theoretical and experimental aspects. The book concentrates on important facts and ideas, including Ginzburg-Landau equations, boundary energy, Green's function methods, and spectroscopy. Avoiding lengthy or difficult presentations of theory, it is written in a clear and lucid style with many useful, informative diagrams. The book is designed to be accessible to senior undergraduate students, making it a helpful tool for teaching superconductivity as well as serving as an introduction to those entering the field.

    ^IIntroduction: The discovery and occurrence of superconductivity. Plan of the book. ^IThe superfluid: The pair wavefunction [ ]. The superfluid velocity and density. Absence of resistance. Magnetic fields, use of vector potential and guage covariance. The london equations, penetration depth. The London guage. Flux quantisation. Absence of thermoelectric effects. ^IThe phase transition: Phase diagram in the B-T plane. { }F, { }S and { }C in zero field. Magnetic energies, Meissner effect. The critical field Bc (T). ^IGinzburg-Landau theory: The Ginzburg-Landau free energy density. The Ginzburg-Landau equations and boundary conditions. Penetration depth, coherence length and [ ]. Boundary energy. Flux vortices. ^IType I and Type II superconductors: Type I superconductors, the intermediate state. Landau's branching model, critical currents. Type II superconductors. Bc1, the flux lattice. Bc@ and Bc#. Flux pinning and flux flow. Critical currents and the peak effect. Critical currents and type II behaviour of thin films. ^IIntroduction to microscopic theory: Description using second quantisation. The attractive interaction. The BCS ground state. The BCS weak coupling model. Single particle excitations and theirproperties, [ ](T). Meaning of [ ] and the superfluid in BCS, [ ](T). Other properties understandable in terms of BCS theory. Gap anisotropy and strong coupling. ^ICoherence lengths and decay times: Results only of Gor'kov theory, the Ginzburg-Landau parameters. Dirty superconductors. The proximity effect. Fluctuations in superconductors. Pippard non-local electromagnetic theory. Surface impedance, infra-red reflectivity. Interfaces and Andreev reflection. Branch crossing and other decay times. ^ITunnelling and the Josephson effect: Giaevar tunnelling. [ ]2F measurements. The Josephson effect at low frequencies. Quantum interference. The plasma resonance. high frequency theory. Other weak links ^ISQUIDs and their uses: dc and rf SQUID explained. SQUID noise and sensitivity. Applications, matching of SQUID circuits. ^IOther applications of superconductivity: Laboratory uses. Superconducting magnets. Applications in heavy engineering. Logic circuits: the Josephson computer. Microwave applications. ^IFurther microscopic theory: Off-diagonal long-range order. Equation of motion method, Bogoliubov equations. Green's function methods, the route to Gor'kov and to Pippard. Gapless superconductors. estimates of Tc, Macmillan theory. Other attractive interaction, p-wave superconductors. ^IThe discovery of high-Tc superconductors: Account of the discovery. Structures, electronic states, phonon structure and normal state properties. Effects of stoichiometry on Tc. The isotope effect. ^IProperties of high-Tc superconductors: Magnetisation, critical current densities. The glassy state. Heat capacity. Microwave surface impedance. Critical point behaviour. Tunnelling behaviour. Spectroscopy. spin resonance. ^IMechanisms of high-Tc superconductivity: Appendices.

    Biography

    Waldram, J.R

    "I have enormously appreciated reading this book … As an experimental solid-state physicist and a materials scientist, I have learned a lot of things … well written, clear … a basic graduate school textbook on superconductivity. … a very complete, comprehensive, and illustrative work, which goes beyond the purely theoretical aspects. … good overview of superconductivity and covers a wide range of aspects, including applications. … Congratulations to the author."
    -MRS Bulletin

    "very useful, comprehensive, spanning a spectrum that includes phenomenology and history, microscopic theory, high-temperature superconductivity, and applications … sections on the macroscopic wave function, describing the superfluid behavior of the electrons, the Ginzburg-Landau model, and the Josephson effects … contain unique physical insights. …Especially noteworthy are the treatments of electron-phonon coupling, the relationship of the order parameter to the microscopic theory, and the nonlocal form of the BCS theory. … a heroic effort to cover the current understanding and present in a fair manner the various positions on many questions. Particularly strong are the considerations of electronic structure issues, properties of the normal state, and issues such as the spin gap and the pseudogap. …essential physical ideas are outlined, and the references … provide a clear path into the various subfields for the interested reader. … The comparison of the properties of the cuprates with … BCS theory is an excellent summary of a large number of experimental studies … a fine job in reviewing the experimental facts … contains many profound physical insights and … a comprehensive introduction to a wide variety of topics … certainly should be read by serious students of the subject."
    -Physics Today

    "… It is true that much of the intrinsic beauty of superconductivity is that it is basically a quantum mechanical phenomenon and any thorough treatment has to tackle this head on. John Waldram has met this challenge admirably … an impressive contribution and worthy of its subject. I can not recommend it too highly."
    -L.F. Cohen (Imperial College, London, UK), Contemporary Physics, Vol. 40, No, 1, 1999