CONTACT RESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS RECORDED AT CONDUCTIVE POLYMER HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR INTERFACES

Methods of making electrical contact to high-T(c) superconductors with conductive polymers are described. In addition, three- and four-point resistance measurements are acquired on samples of YBa2Cu3O7-delta, G dBa2Cu3O7-delta, and Pb0.3Bi1.7Sr1.6Ca2.4Cu3O10 using poly(3-hexylthio phene) contacts in order to determine the temperature dependence of th e conductive polymer/superconductor contact resistance. Although the p olymer/superconductor contact resistance displays activated behavior a bove T(c) and increases as the temperature is lowered, below T(c) ther e is a precipitous decrease in the resistance at that interface. Simil ar measurements completed on systems where the superconducting compone nts are substituted by normal metals do not show any signs of such con tact resistance decreases. Possible reasons for the decrease in the po lymer/superconductor interface resistance at T(c) are discussed.