This article is cited in 31 papers

REVIEWS OF TOPICAL PROBLEMS

Localized superconductivity of twin metal crystals

I. N. Khlyustikov^a, A. I. Buzdin<sup>b

a</sup> Institute for Problems of Technology and Microelectronics, Academy of the Sciences of the USSR
^b Lomonosov Moscow State University

Abstract: The new phenomenon of twinning plane superconductivity is reviewed. It has already been observed in several metals. The superconductivity is localized near a twinning plane and it appears at a temperature higher than the critical temperature of the superconducting transition of a bulk metal. The phase diagram for the twinning-plane superconductivity, plotted using the magnetic field and temperature as the coordinates, is very different for type I and type II superconductors. A detailed analysis of the experimental data on the twinning-plane superconductivity is accompanied by a theoretical description of the phenomenon. The presence of a dense twinned structure may increase considerably the critical temperature: for example, in the case of tin it has been possible to increase this temperature more than threefold. We shall discuss also the data showing that the twinning-plane superconductivity can play an important role in the recently discovered high-temperature superconductors.

UDC: 538.945

PACS: 74.25.Dw, 61.72.Mm, 74.20.De, 74.25.Ha, 74.25.Op

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0155.198805b.0047

 English version: Physics–Uspekhi, 1988, 31:5, 409–433