文档介绍：PREFACE TO VOLUME 10
The Handbook series ic Materials is a continuation of the Handbook series Fer-
ic Materials. The original aim of Peter Wohlfarth when he started the latter
series was bine new developments in ism with the achievements of earlier
compilations of monographs, producing a worthy essor to Bozorth's classical and
monumental book ism. This is the main reason that ic Mate-
rials was initially chosen as title for the Handbook series, although the latter aimed at
giving a plete cross-section of ism than Bozorth's book.
ism has seen an enormous expansion into a variety of different areas of research
in the last few years, comprising the ism of several classes of novel materials that
share with truly ic materials only the presence of ic moments. For
this reason the Editor and Publisher of this Handbook series have carefully reconsidered
the title of the Handbook series and changed it into ic Materials. It is with much
pleasure that I can introduce to you now Volume 10 of this Handbook series.
High-To superconductors are prominent examples of such classes of novel materials.
After the discovery of the first high-Tc superconductor Laz_xBaxCuO4 by Bednorz and
MUller in 1986 tremendous efforts were put world-wide in raising Tc even further. This
global effort was soon rewarded in the form of new superconducting materials having
a more than three times higher transition temperature. Of the pounds
synthesised and investigated the cuprates take the most prominent position. Although
originally intended as novel pounds, these materials have opened
a new field of ism that permits detailed studies of the propagation of ic
order as a function of separation and crystallographic orientation, as well as studies of
the interplay of strain and ic properties. A detailed account of achievements in
this field is presented in the first chapter of this Volume.
Of considerable technical importance is the group of so-called soft