L-shell photoelectric cross sections have been measured at 60 keV for six elements in the range 74≤Z≤92. The measurements are found to agree with theoretical calculations.

L_III subshell photoelectric cross-sections in lead, thorium and uranium at 13·596, 16·896 and 17·781 keV respectively have been determined. The results are found to agree well with theory.

The photorefractive effect has been studied experimentally in single crystals of Fe and Mn-doped lithium niobate as a function of external static magnetic field. A strong dependence of changes in birefringence is observed on the magnitude and direction of the external field.

RF SQUID behaviour due to grain boundary weak links in a bulk YBCO is observed at 77 K using modified commercial rf electronics. Porous samples with lowI_c are found to show this characteristic whereas dense samples with higherI_c do not show SQUID behaviour.V-B modulation characteristic is found to be better when the rf pumping frequency is kept slightly higher than the resonance frequency of the tank circuit. Designing of coil for tank circuit with appropriateQ has been found to be very crucial for seeing the SQUID behaviour. Estimation of parameters such as coupling constant, mutual inductance, inductance and radius of the SQUID loop, have been made and their significance is discussed. Flux noise spectrum of the bulk rf SQUID in flux locked mode is also reported.

A 2-hole rf SQUID has been fabricated using naturally present grain boundary Josephson weaklinks in a microbridge of bulk Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor. Periodic oscillations in voltage-flux characteristics have been observed up to 80.5 K. The spectral density of flux noise of the SQUID is 8 × 10⁻⁴ Φ₀/√Hz at 100 Hz and 77 K for open-loop mode. The SQUID has been successfully operated in flux-locked-loop mode at 77 K, demonstrating the feasiblity of the device for practical applications. In the flux-locked-loop mode the stability as well as flux noise of the SQUID has been found to improve considerably as compared to that in the open-loop mode. Various SQUID parameters have also been estimated and reported here.