PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF YBA2CU3O7-DELTA POLYPYRROLE BILAYER STRUCTURES

Electrochemical techniques are exploited to fabricate conductive polymer/high-T-c superconductor bilayer structures. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electrochemical techniques are utilized to characterize the electrodeposition of polypyrrole layers grown onto YBa2Cu3O7-delta films. In such hybrid polymer/superconductor systems, it is found that, when the polymer is oxidized to its conductive state, the transition temperature (T-c) and critical currents (J(c)) of the underlying superconductor film are suppressed. Reversible modulations of the transition temperatures of up to 50 K are noted for these structures. Upon reduction df the conductive polymer layer back to its nonconductive form, both T-c and J(c) are found to return to values close to those acquired for the underivatized YBa2Cu3O7-delta film.