It has been established as a result of successful direct experimental studi
es of the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter that the pairing
symmetry in the compounds YBCO, GdBCO, Tl2201, and Bi2212 is of the d-wave
type. In this paper, experimental and theoretical results concerning the d-
wave superconducting state and the peculiarities of magnetic properties of
the d-type superconductor such as pseudogap, charge ordering, and unusual s
tructure of vortex excitations differing from that for s-states are analyze
d. Several mechanisms of d-pairing and related microscopic theories are dis
cussed and possible experiments for their verification are proposed. (C) 19
98 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-777X(98)00111-X].