Abstract: The local modification of an insulating GdBa2Cu3O6.5 thin film, made superconducting by illumination with a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM), is reported. A 100-nm aperture NSOM probe acts as a sub- wavelength light source of wavelength ?(exc)=480-650 nm, locally generating photocarriers in an otherwise insulating GdBa2-Cu3O6.5 thin film. Of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, electrons are trapped in the crystallographic lattice, defining an electrostatic confining potential to enable the holes to move. Reflectance measurements at ? = 1.55 ?m at room temperature show that photocarriers can be induced and constrained to move on a ?? 200 nm scale for all investigated ?(exc). Photogenerated wires present a superconducting critical temperature T(c) = 12 K with a critical current density J(c) = 104 A cm-2. Exploiting the flexibility provided by photodoping through a NSOM probe, a junction was written by photodoping a wire with a narrow (? 50 nm) under-illuminated gap. The strong magnetic field modulation of the critical current provides a clear signature of the existence of a Josephson effect in the junction.

Abstract: Critical current versus temperature measurements were carried out in ceramic YBa2Cu3O7 samples. The samples were all prepared using the same sintering procedure, but starting from powders obtained by different wet and dry methods. All samples showed a linear Jc vs. T behaviour, typical of Josephson weak-link coupling, with a slope that depends on the preparation method. Using the Ambegaokar-Baratoff relation for Jc, the difference in slopes can be attributed to a change in the characteristic value of the junction resistance. This value turns out to be clearly correlated with the resistivity in the normal state.

Abstract: We have studied vortex pinning through ac susceptibility measurements in single crystals of YBCO with columnar defects (CDs). The CDs have 0, 10 and 20 splay angle and average direction 108 off the c-axis. By studying the angular variation we can compensate for the anisotropy and effects of twins, etc. Using a simple expression we can obtain the angular spread when the field direction is outside the splay angle. An increase of pinning when the field direction is inside
the angle defined by the CDs can be attributed to vortex entanglement due to the splay and the suppression of the sliding of double kinks.

Abstract: The photoinduced enhancement of superconductivity in RBa2Cu3Ox (R=rare earth or yttrium) and PryR1-yBa2Cu3Ox was explored through temperature-dependent resistivity, Hall coefficient and mobility, and x-ray diffraction measurements. The increases in Tc are enhanced near the metal-insulator transition, although photoinduced changes always exist in oxygendeficient samples. Several explanations, including intergrain Josephson coupling, photoassisted oxygen ordering, and the trapping of photogenerated electrons in oxygen vacancies, are discussed.

Abstract: The mechanical response of the flux-line lattice has been measured with a low-frequency forced pendulum in ceramic YBa2Cu3O7. A dissipation peak observed in temperature sweeps is frequency-independent between 1 mHz and 5 Hz. Dissipation depends strongly on applied torque, and for fixed temperatures this dependence is well fitted by a rheological model of extended dry friction. If the model is extended to take account of thermal activation, however, it does not agree with the measured frequency independence, which is hard to explain within simple models of thermal activation.