Netsu Sokutei, 33 (4), p. 167, (2006)

解説

High-Resolution Thermal Expansion of Solids: Recent Results on Superconducting YBa2Cu3Ox Single Crystals

High-resolution thermal expansion measurements of solids provide a very useful and complimentary (to heat capacity) method for studying the thermodynamics of solid-state systems. In this short review, first, different measurement techniques are discussed with special emphasis given to capacitance dilatometry. Then, recent results on the thermal expansion of the high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) YBa2Cu3Ox are presented and used to discuss uniaxial pressure effects of Tc, the nature of superconducting fluctuations and oxygen-vacancy ordering in YBa2Cu3Ox.