Home / Academics / Division of Math & Science / Faculty / Christopher Jones / Dissertation / Chapter 4: Introduction

Chapter 4:  Modification of Superconducting Properties in High Temperature Superconductor / Conducting Polymer Bilayer Assemblies

A variety of electronic devices have been formed from conjugated polymer systems.  Molecular transistors, Schottky diodes, metal-insulator-semiconductor diodes, MIS field effect transistors, and light emitting diodes have all been assembled using these polymeric materials.^1-6  Conductive polymers have been utilized as the active elements in these devices.  These polymers have been assembled onto a wide range of substrates such as metals, semiconductors, and insulators.  In this research, redox active conducting polymers have been used because of their ability to reversibly switch their electrical properties between insulating and conductive forms.  This reversibility is not possible in traditional semiconductors which can also be doped to alter their electrical conductivity.  Additionally, these hybrid conducting polymer / high temperature superconductor assemblies can be utilized in the study of electron and energy transfer phenomena that occur at molecule / superconductor interfaces at temperatures above and below the superconducting transition temperature.^7-15  The first part of this chapter, sections 4.1 - 4.3, discusses the fabrication of high-temperature supercondcutor microbridges as well as polymer deposition and modification.  In the latter sections of the chapter, new research related to the modification of the superconducting properties of conducting polymer / high-temperature supercondcutor bilayer assemblies is presented.