Solid-state and materials research

The recently discovered high-temperature superconductors, which have no resistance at temperatures up to 125K, are expected to play a very important role in future semiconductor devices. However, much research is needed to prepare these superconductors with sufficiently high current-carrying capacity (>106 amps cm-2) and in a thin-film form which is compatible with silicon devices. The major problem is that the thin film interacts with the substrate during high-temperature processing and loses its superconducting properties. Three approaches are being used for making thin-film superconductors, namely laser ablation, sputtering and co-evaporation. 2 figs., 3 refs