Thermal phenomena in high-Tc thin-film superconductors

The discovery of superconductivity at liquid-nitrogen temperatures offers very promising prospects for the development of powerful hybrid electronic semiconductor-superconductor devices. The basis elements in these devices are thin films of high-Tc superconductors on crystalline substrates. This paper discusses significant thermodynamic and heat and mass transfer problems arising from the application of thin-film superconductors and reviews the relevant literature. It covers processing techniques, characterization methods, thermal stability criteria, and microscale heat transfer phenomena