[en] Carbon and Germanium resistors have been calibrated against a standard in the temperature range from 4K to 40K. From the data, values of temperature are obtained with 0,1% error (std deviation). These calibrations have been also checked against specific heat measurements. (author)

[en] The critical temperature T/sub c/ of Nb/Al multilayers decreases as the total sample thickness d/sub T/ is decreased while the thickness of each Nb and Al layer is kept constant. To understand this behavior, models based on the proximity effect and on weak two-dimensional (2D) localization are employed. The latter uses a characteristic length, the thermal diffusion length, in relation to d/sub T/ to obtain 2D behavior and leads to a reasonable explanation of T/sub c/(d/sub T/). It is also found that the slope at T/sub c/(d/sub T/) of the critical magnetic field perpendicular to the layers is independent of d/sub T/ when the Nb and Al layer thicknesses are kept constant. The angular dependence of the critical field is also measured

[en] We describe a new device to produce ribbons of disordered metals by ultrarapid quenching combining an arc furnace with a rotating cylinder. The characterization of samples of disordered La₇₀ Cu₃₀ and La₇₆Au₂₄ prepared using this method shows good agreement with those obtained by other authors for the same alloys

[en] Perpendicular magnetic critical fields for cadmium foils were measured to thicknesses below the temperature dependent coherence length. The presence of supercooling indicates first-order thermodynamic transitions for all samples. A modification of Davies' model (Proc. R. Soc. (London) A 255, 407 (1960)) leads to a good fit of the experimental data. (author)

[en] It is shown that superconductivity is a useful tool to investigate the evolution of the amorphous state, when heat treatment below the crystallization temperature. (orig.)

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