Superconductivity: fact vs. fancy

Abstract

The two-part special report discusses the recently developed high-temperature superconducting ceramics. The first part describes promising processing advances and examines concerns about critical current density and brittleness. Both problems present a serious roadblock to practical use of these materials. The second part investigates the more interesting and feasible applications, which appear to be several years away. An accompanying box insert on theory explains what is known about superconductivity in these ceramics.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>