Electronic transport properties of PrBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ

At the interface between the barrier and the electrode of a Josephson junction the two worlds touch. The classical semiconductor physics that dates back to 1839 and the contemporary new-found-land of physics behind high-Tc superconductivity arrive at a close proximity. The work described in this thesis balances between superconductors on the one hand and semiconductors on the other. It focuses on the charge transport in PBCO, both on macroscopic and on mesoscopic length scales. Interest in the electronic transport properties of PBCO is stimulated by developments in the applications of high-Tc superconductivity. The electronic transport properties of PBCO are also intriguing from a more fundamental point of view. In order to carry out the research described in the thesis we inherited knowledge from practical high-Tc device developments and combined it with classical solid state probing techniques.