A ceramic combinatorial method to investigate the phase space of e.g. metal oxides by a single sample is reviewed along with its application to cuprate superconductors. The main idea behind this method is to use a large number N of starting materials (micrometer size grains) to generate local reaction centers producing possible compounds at the reaction temperature. Mathematical calculations using also empirical data on the occurrence of compounds in phase systems allow to conclude that in 1 cm3 of a sample, there are enough grains to populate all local reaction centers in order to obtain in principle what the N starting materials can produce. A variety of characterization technics have been applied to such libraries to identify e.g. cuprate superconductors. Finally the success of the concept will depend on analytical tools allowing for a simultaneous analysis of the composition and physical properties. Here, we have applied for the first time scanning SQUID microscopy to reveal local superconductivity in inhomogeneous ceramic samples.

中文翻译：

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探索金属氧化物化学多样性的陶瓷组合合成

回顾了通过单个样品研究金属氧化物相空间的陶瓷组合方法及其在铜酸盐超导体中的应用。这种方法背后的主要思想是使用大量 N 的起始材料（微米尺寸的晶粒）来产生局部反应中心，在反应温度下产生可能的化合物。使用相系统中化合物出现的经验数据进行数学计算可以得出结论，在 1 cm3 的样品中，有足够的晶粒填充所有局部反应中心，以便原则上获得 N 起始材料可以产生的物质。多种表征技术已应用于此类库以识别例如铜酸盐超导体。最后，该概念的成功将取决于允许同时分析成分和物理特性的分析工具。在这里，我们首次应用扫描 SQUID 显微镜来揭示不均匀陶瓷样品中的局部超导性。