Materials Science Studies of High-Temperature Superconducting Ceramic Oxides

Abstract : Herein is presented the results of a comprehensive program of research aimed at understanding the materials science and the mechanistic physics of high-temperature superconducting oxides. This comprehensive research program has identified the materials properties that are consistently associated with high-Tc superconductors and has shown that the mechanism that gives rise to the phenomenon of high-Tc superconductivity is associated with bound holes that are due to charge-transfer excitations at high frequency. The latter are a result of the high internal electric field present in high-Tc materials, owing to the asymmetry of the crystal structure. The interaction of bound holes with free electrons and the interaction of local spin fluctuations with the spin of free electrons generate a charge density wave and a spin density wave that cause Cooper pairing.