Thermoelectric emf's induced by nanosecond laser pulses in films of high-temperature superconductors

Extremely high (up to 0.1 V) voltage pulses were detected in high-temperature superconducting copper–yttrium films subjected to nanosecond laser pulses with moderate (10 mJ/cm²) energy densities. The temperature dependences of these emf's combined with the dependence on the illumination geometry indicated that the effect was of thermoelectric origin.