This article provides an overview of the fabrication of epitaxial, biaxially aligned buffer layers on rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates (RABiTS) as templates for YBCO films carrying high critical current densities.The RABiTS technique uses standard thermomechanical processing to obtain long lengths of flexible, biaxially oriented substrates with smooth surfaces.The strong biaxial texture of the metal is conferred to the superconductor by the deposition of intermediate metal and/or oxide layers that serve both as a chemical and a structural buffer.Epitaxial YBCO films with critical current densities exceeding 3 106A/cm2at 77K in self-field have been grown on RABiTS using a variety of techniques and demonstrate magnetic-field-dependent critical current values that are similar to those of epitaxial films on single-crystal ceramic substrates.The RABiTS architecture most commonly used consists of a CeO2 (sputtered)/YSZ (sputtered)/Y203 (e-beam)/Ni-W alloy.The desired texture of the base metal has been achieved in 100 m lengths and 10cm widths.Scaleable and cost-effective techniques are also being pursued to deposit the epitaxial multilayers.The results discussed here demonstrate that this technique is a viable route for the fabrication of long lengths of high-critical-current-density wire capable of carrying high currents in magnetic fields and at temperatures accessible by cooling with relatively inexpensive liquid nitrogen (up through the 77K range).

We have measured the temperature dependence of the in-plane London penetration depth λ ab (T ) and the maximum Josephson current Ic(T ) using bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions of the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y. Both quantities reveal an anomalous temperature dependence below about 4 K. In contrast to the usual monotonous decrease (increase) of λ ab (T ) (Ic(T )) with decreasing temperature, λ ab (T ) and Ic(T ) are found to increase and decrease, respectively, with decreasing temperature below 4 K resulting in a non-monotonous overall temperature dependence. This anomalous behavior was found to be absent in analogous measurements performed on Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y. From this we conclude that the anomalous behavior of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y is caused by the presence of the Nd 3+ paramagnetic moments. Correcting the measured λ ab (T ) dependence of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y for the temperature dependent susceptibility due to the Nd moments, an exponential dependence is obtained indicating isotropic s-wave pairing. This result is fully consistent with the λ ab (T ) dependence measured for Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y. The vast majority of experiments on the cuprate superconductors are performed on hole-doped materials. Much less attention has been paid to the system Ln 2−x Ce x CuO 4−y (with Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu) [1] which represents an electron-doped material. Both hole-and electron-doped cuprates have in common the copper oxygen planes as the central building blocks of the high-temperature superconductors (HTS) suggesting similar superconducting properties. However, as can already be seen from the differences of the generic phase diagram on the electron-and hole-doped side, the physics of electron-and hole-doped HTS is different. In particular, the order parameter (OP) symmetry of the electron-doped cuprates is most likely of s-wave type [2][3][4][5], in contrast to the d-wave OP symmetry in the hole-doped HTS. To clarify the specific differences and similarities between the electron-and hole-doped HTS a more detailed experimental study of the electron-doped HTS is required.

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Abstract. Andreev bound states at the surface of superconductors are expected for any pair potential showing a sign change in different k-directions with their spectral weight depending on the relative orientation of the surface and the pair potential. We report on the observation of Andreev bound states in high temperature superconductors (HTS) employing tunneling spectroscopy on bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions (GBJs). The tunneling spectra were studied as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. The tunneling spectra of GBJ formed by YBa2Cu3O 7−δ (YBCO), Bi2Sr2CaCu2O 8+δ (BSCCO), and La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 (LSCO) show a pronounced zero bias conductance peak that can be interpreted in terms of Andreev bound states at zero energy that are expected at the surface of HTS having a d-wave symmetry of the order parameter. In contrast, for the most likely s-wave HTS Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−y (NCCO) no zero bias conductance peak was observed. Applying a magnetic field results in a shift of spectral weight from zero to finite energy. This shift is found to depend nonlinearly on the applied magnetic field. Further consequences of the Andreev bound states are discussed and experimental evidence for anomalous Meissner currents is presented.

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