Introduction

Abstract

Superconductors have been known about since the turn of the century. Recently there has been a renewed interest with the discovery of the new, high-T _c materials since 1986[1]. These compounds become superconducting at much warmer temperatures than any previously known. In fact, many of tthem superconduct at temperatures above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, making the observation of the transition both accessible and inexpensive. It was obvious immediately that these materials could have a tremendous technological impact, or lead to further materials with even higher transitions. For this reason there has been an intense effort by scientists in both academia and industry to study these materials. The scientific and industrial communities hope to learn what makes these materials work. For, learning how these materials work not only increases mankind’s overall knowledge of his world, but could make some person or company quite successful if the information were used and developed correctly.