Frontiers in Superconducting Materials

Superconductors are entering a new age where they will be much more commonplace. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) are currently in the marketplace for rf filter applications and are coming into power applications as wires for cables, fault current limiters and motors/generators. Critical to enabling these developments are the great advances over the last decade-and-a-half in preparation of high-quality materials. Equally exciting, new superconductors are emerging and a better understanding of the cuprates is evolving. The three-year-old MgB2 superconductor appears to be now moving on to the applications arena as well. This book offers a diverse collection of timely presentations on these new frontiers in superconducting materials. Topics include: developments in second-generation HTS wire, known as coated conductors; progress in first-generation HTS wire towards better performance and manufacturing; MgB2 materials developments, especially thin films and wires; rf applications; and HTS thin films and electronics.