2004 Volume 73 Issue 1 Pages 14
Progress in the research on cuprate superconductors, including recent topics, is summarized from a viewpoint of material science. First, characteristic features of the chemical compositions and crystal structures of cuprate superconductors and the history of new materials research are reviewed. Next, we show various techniques for improving the quality of single crystals for understanding essential physical properties of cuprate superconductors. In this chapter, the importance of controlling chemical compositions in the layered cuprates is emphasized. Finally, the characteristic features of the critical current properties of cuprate superconductors are discussed in terms of flux line systems and pinning sites, and recent successful developments in the generation of strong pinning sites by chemical methods are introduced.
