There are theoretical and experimental evidences for the pseudo-gap in electron doped cuprates being due to interaction between electrons and anti-ferromagnetism(AFM). A remaining issue is on how AFM correlates with pseudo-gap, and eventually with superconductivity. To elucidate the issue, we have performed temperature dependent angle-resolved photoemission studies of an e-doped cuprate superconductor $Sm_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4$(SCCO) x=0.18 at 20K and 150K. In the case of $Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4$, the most well known e-doped cuprate, pseudo-gap disappears at around 100 K for x=0.17. Our experimental result reveals that the pseudo-gap of SCCO exists even at 150K for x=0.18. This result implies that the AFM of SCCO survives even in x=0.18, which agrees with previously reported phase diagram of SCCO. Yet, the superconductivity disappears around x=0.18 for both NCCO and SCCO in spite of the difference in the magnetic order. This result sheds a light on the disappearance of superconductivity on the over-doped side.

We fabricated the polyacrylic acid (PAA)-doped $MgB_2$ bulks and characterized their lattice parameters, actual C substitutions, microstructures, and critical properties. The boron (B) powder was mixed with PAA using N,N-dimethylformamide as solvent and then the solution was dried out at $200^{\circ}C$ and crushed. The C treated B powder and magnesium powder were mixed and compacted by uniaxial pressing at 500 MPa, followed by sintering at $900^{\circ}C$ for 1 h in high purity Ar atmosphere. We observed that the PAA doping increased the MgO amount but decreased the grain size, a-axis lattice constant, and critical temperature ($T_c$), which is indicative of the C substitution for B sites in $MgB_2$. In addition, the critical current density ($J_c$) at high magnetic field was significantly improved with increasing PAA addition: at 5 K and 6.6 T, the $J_c$ of 7 wt% PAA-doped sample was $6.39\;{\times}\;10^3\;A/cm^2$ which was approximately 6-fold higher than that of the pure sample ($1.04\;{\times}\;10^3\;A/cm^2$). This improvement was probably due to the C substitution and the refinement of grain size by PAA doping, suggesting that PAA is an effective dopant in improving $J_c$(B) performance of $MgB_2$.

$SrPd_2Ge_2$ single crystals were grown by self-flux method. Several shiny plate-like single crystals were obtained. The crystal structure and lattice parameters were characterized using the x-ray diffractometor, which indicates the crystals are in a single phase of $ThCr_2Si_2$-type. We confirmed superconducting transition temperature at 2.7 K by measuring magnetization and electrical resistivity.

We measured electrical shot noise in a metal-insulator-metal tunnel junction, which was made by using electron-beam lithography and double-angle evaporation technique. Since the dependence of the shot noise on bias voltage and temperature is theoretically well known, we can determine the temperature of the junction by measuring the noise as the voltage across the junction is changed. A cryogenic low noise amplifier was used to amplify the noise signal in the frequency range of 600-800 MHz, which enabled fast measurement of noise signal and thus temperature. With further study, this method could be useful for primary thermometry in cryogenic temperatures.

Reel-to-reel deposition of $Y_2O_3$ has been performed on Ni-5%W metal substrates using the RF-sputtering method. The epitaxial orientation of $Y_2O_3$ buffer layers to the base bi-axially textured substrate was well identified using ${\theta}-2{\theta}$, out-of-plane ($\omega$), and in-plane ($\phi$) scans in X-ray diffraction analysis. The optimization of $Y_2O_3$ seed layers in reel-to-reel fashion were investigated varying the deposition temperature, sputtering power, and pressure for its significant roles for the following buffer stacks and superconducting layers. $Y_2O_3$ were all grown epitaxially on bi-axially textured metal substrates at 380 watts and 5 mTorr in the temperature range of $600-740^{\circ}C$ with higher $Y_2O_3$ (400) intensities at ${\sim}710^{\circ}C$. It was found that the $\Delta\omega$ values were $1-2^{\circ}$ lower but the $\Delta\phi$ values were above $1^{\circ}$ higher than that of Ni-W substrates. As the sputtering power increased from 340 to 380 watts, $\Delta\omega$ and $\Delta\phi$ values showed decreased tendency. Even in the small window of deposition pressure of 3-7 mTorr, the $Y_2O_3$ (400) intensities increased and $\Delta\omega$ and $\Delta\phi$ values were reduced as sputtering pressure increased.

Sapphire resonators with $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$ (YBCO) endplates have provided a way to realize extremely high quality factor due to the extremely low dielectric loss of sapphire and conductive loss of YBCO films, which enables to measure the low surface resistance of superconductor films at microwave frequencies. We present microwave properties of HTS sapphire resonators designed for measuring the surface resistance of HTS films at millimeter-wave frequencies by using the two-resonance mode dielectric resonator method. Despite enhanced surface resistance ($R_S$) of YBCO films due to the quadratic frequency dependence of the $R_S$, the unloaded quality factor ($Q_0$) of the $TE_{021}$ mode sapphire resonator still appears to be well above $1\;{\times}\;10^6$ at a mm-wave frequency of 38 GHz at 10 K. However, it appears that the $TE_{012}$ mode $Q_0$ is unexpectedly low despite that the corresponding resonance peak looks uncoupled with parasitic modes. We discuss possible reasons for the unexpected results using the surface resistance at the $TE_{021}$, $TE_{012}$, and $TE_{011}$ mode frequencies.

We examine phase transition of the spin density wave and $\pi$ phase shifted superconductivity in the Fe pnictide superconductors. The phase diagram is described in the plane of the temperature T and the doping x with the combination of Ginzburg-Landau expansion of the free energy near the multi-critical temperature $T_c$ and the self-consistent numerical iterations of the gap equations. The phase separation or coexistence is determined by computing the 4-th order terms of the free energy which is confirmed by the numerical calculations. We can show the phase coexistence when the spin density wave is incommensurate. And the first order phase transition is observed near the boundary between commensurate and incommensurate spin density wave.

Electrical transport properties were measured on $SmFeAsO_{0.85}$ single crystals along the c-axis for various temperatures and magnetic fields. For the measurements a mesa structure was fabricated on the surface of the single crystals. Samples showed a metallic temperature dependence of resistance and current-voltage curves without hysteretic multiple branch splitting that is usually observed in tunneling Josephson junctions. In addition, in ab-planar magnetic fields, samples did not show the Fraunhofer-type field modulation of the critical current. All these features indicate that the c-axis transport characteristics of $SmFeAsO_{0.85}$ single crystals are explained by the anisotropic bulk superconductivity rather than Josephson tunneling.

The properties of buffer layer for thermal and chemical stability in coated conductor is a very important issue. $CeO_2$ has desirable thermal and chemical stability as well as good lattice match. In this study, $CeO_2$ was deposited by electron beam deposition. The MgO(001) single crystal and LMO buffered IBAD substrate(LMO/IBAD-MgO/$Y_2O_3/Al_2O_3$/Hastelloy) were used as substrates, which have $\Delta\phi$ values of ${\sim}8.9^{\circ}$. The epitaxial $CeO_2$ films was deposited with high deposition rate of $12{\sim}16\;{\AA}/sec$. During deposition, the change of oxygen partial pressure(${\rho}O_2$) does not cause change in c-axis texture. In case of $CeO_2$ on MgO single crystal, the substrate temperature was optimized at $750^{\circ}C$ with superior $\Delta\phi$ and $\Delta\omega$ value. Otherwise, In case of LMO buffered IBAD substrate, It was optimized at $650^{\circ}C$ with increasing its deposition thickness of $CeO_2$, which was finally obtained with best $\Delta\phi$ value of $5.5^{\circ}$, $\Delta\omega$ value of $2^{\circ}$ and Ra value of 2.2 nm.

The magnetic flux profiles in SmBCO and YBCO coated conductors(CC) in the presence of the external field were comparatively investigated by magneto-optic image and scanning hall probe measurements. The current distributions calculated by using the inversion method from measured field profiles show that the decrease of current densities near the edges of SmBCO CC is more significant than those of YBCO CC. Through the comparison of the numerical analysis based on Kim's critical state model and the Brandt and Indenbom's solution, we found that this feature is related to their different field dependant properties of the critical current densities.

We propose a variational wave function for the ground state of the magnetic heavy fermion (HF) systems, in which both the Kondo and the RKKY interactions are variationally incorporated and the local f-orbital state exists as a linear combination of a full local moment state and a fully compensated state (mixed wave state). We describe the mechanism for the mixed wave ground state based on the large-N treatment of the Kondo lattice Hamiltonian added with RKKY interaction. With the mixed wave ground state we can explain several puzzling experiments in magnetic HF compounds such as a small value of local moment, coexistence of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and the paramagnetic (PM) phases, local quantum criticality, etc.

Phase stability diagram and boundary of a- and c-axis orientation of $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$ (SmBCO) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) were reported with studies based on x-ray diffraction [1]. Four different samples are systematically analyzed: normal c-axis oriented orthorhombic $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$, a-axis oriented $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$, c-axis oriented orthorhombic $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$ with $Sm_2BaCuO_5$ phase, and a mixture with c-axis oriented orthorhombic $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$ and anomalously long-c tetragonal $SmBa_2Cu_3O_x$. Raman scattering spectroscopy equipped with polarization analysis elucidates the crystal orientation and the origin of the growth of the materials. It indicates that the technique can be used for quality control of conductor manufacturing processes as well as for enhancement of the materials properties.

We have developed a high-$T_c$ SQUID magnetocardiogram (MCG) system for small laboratory animals. White noise of the measurement system was about 30 fT/$Hz^{1/2}$ when measured in a magnetically shielded room. We optimized the measurement position to obtain clear MCG wave from rat's small heart by using grid measurements. With the optimization, the MCG signal was successfully detected with the peak amplitude of about 30 pT. We could observe well defined P-, QRS-, and T-waves from the rat MCG. The results suggest that the developed system has a strong potential to monitor the progress of the heart disease model by using a laboratory rat.

We have fabricated the low noise liquid helium(LHe) dewar with a different shape of thermal shield to apply the 64-channel SQUID(Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) gradiometer. The first shape of thermal shield was made of an aluminum plate with a wide width of 100 mm slit and the other shape was modified with a narrow width of 20 mm slit. The two types of dewars were estimated by comparing the thermal noise and the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of magnetocardiography(MCG) using the $1^{st}$ order SQUID gradiometer system cooled each dewar. The white noise was different as a point of the dewar. The noise was increased as close as the edge of dewar, and also increased at the thermal shield with the more wide width slit. The white noise of the dewar with thermal shield of 100 mm slit was 6.5 fT/$Hz^{1/2}$ at the center of dewar and 25 fT/$Hz^{1/2}$ at the edge, and the white noise of the other one was 3.5 - 7 fT/$Hz^{1/2}$. We measured the MCG using 64-channel SQUID gradiometer cooled at each LHe dewar and compared the SNR of MCG signal. The SNR was improved of 10 times at the LHe dewar with a modified thermal shield.

We measured the critical current of a Cooper pair transistor consisting of two Josephson junctions and a gate electrode. The Cooper pair transistors were fabricated by using electron-beam lithography and double-angle evaporation technique. The Gate voltage dependence of critical current was measured by observing voltage jumps at various gate voltages while sweeping bias current. The observed oscillation was 2e-periodic, which shows the Cooper pair transistor had low level of quasiparticle poisoning.