The impact of tailored defects on length scales and current conduction in high-Tc superconductors

This article surveys the formation and effects of “tailored” defects, having controlled numbers and several different morphologies, in high temperature superconductors. Defects can affect the equilibrium properties, such as the superconducting length scales ξ (the coherence length) and λ (the London penetration depth). Very importantly, defects provide vortex pinning that supports the conduction of a macroscopic current density. The article introduces these topics and illustrates them with specific examples.