Instrument for characterisation of superconducting films

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Abstract
The authors demonstrate the utility of eddy-current instrumentation designed for characterisation of high-Tc superconducting thin films. The principal advantages of this method, as compared to four-terminal DC resistance measurements, are that it does not require any electrical contacts, and that it probes the entire film surface area adjacent to the sensors, rather than a percolative path. A measurement of the frequency shift of the film-containing resonant circuit as a function of temperature produces an accurate measure of the superconducting transition. Additionally, the 'tailing' of this frequency response on the low-temperature side of the transition provides information on the quality of the superconductor.