ION-BEAMS IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTIVITY RESEARCH

Ion beams have contributed to the progress in high-T-c superconductivi ty research with respect to compositional and growth analysis of epita xial thin films including structural details and phononic properties o f single crystals. Ions with energies in the eV range have been applie d to modify the superconducting properties during thin film growth, an d ions in the MeV and GeV region have been used to modify the properti es of thin films and bulk material in order to perform either fundamen tal studies or to vary the superconducting properties in a controlled fashion for applications. This review presents some examples on recent progress in the field; space limitation precludes a detailed descript ion of the wide range of activities which have occurred in the past. S ubstantial contributions from ion-beam techniques to the rapid progres s in high-T-c research, however, are clearly evident.