Symmetry of the order parameter in the high-T_c superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O_{7- δ}

RECENT discussions of the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity have focused on the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter (the wavefunction of the superconducting state) as a means of constraining the nature of the interaction that forms the Cooper pairs1, 2. There have been many attempts to measure the symmetry of this parameter in the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7 - δ (refs 3–10), but they have not yielded consistent results. Here we show that half-integer flux quantization in superconducting rings with three grain-boundary Josephson junctions, which formed the basis of an earlier, less conclusive symmetry test3, can be used to place firm constraints on the pairing symmetry. For the case of YBa2Cu3O7 - δ, we find that the sign of the order parameter is clearly direction dependent (consistent with a dx2-y2 symmetry) and that the contribution from any out-of-phase isotropic component is less than about 3%. © 1995 Nature Publishing Group.