Handbook of Superconducting Materials

With the advent of High Temperature Superconductivity and the increasing reliability of fabrication techniques, superconductor technology has moved firmly into the mainstream of academic and industrial research. There is currently no single source of practical information giving guidance on which technique to use for any particular category of superconductor. An increasing number of materials scientists and electrical engineers require easy access to practical information, sensible advice and guidance on 'best-practice' and reliable, proven fabrication and characterisation techniques. The Handbook will be the definitive collection of material describing techniques for the fabrication and analysis of superconducting materials. In addition to the descriptions of techniques, authoritative discussions written by leading researchers will give guidance on the most appropriate technique for a particular situation. Characterisation and measurement techniques will form an important part of the Handbook, providing researchers with a standard reference for experimental techniques. The tutorial style description of these techniques makes the Handbook particularly suitable for use by graduate students. The Handbook will be supported by a comprehensive web site which will be updated with new data as it emerges. The Handbook has six main sections:

-- Fundamentals of Superconductivity - characteristic properties, elementary theory, critical current of type II superconductors

-- Processing - bulk materials, wires and tapes, thick and think films, contact techniques

-- Characterisation Techniques - structure/microstructure, measurement and interpretation of electromagnetic properties,measurement of physics properties

-- Materials - characteristic properties of low and high Tc materials

-- Applications - high current applications, trapped flux devices, high frequency devices, josephson junction devices, other devices

-- Emerging materials - mercury superconductors, non-copper and other intermetallic compounds, fullerene superconductors, organic superconductors, future high Tc superconductors, magnesium diboride. There is a further smaller section on refrigeration, and there will be appendices covering manufacturers, suppliers and safety considerations. Readership: Researchers, graduate students and industrial researchers in materials science and electrical engineering.