Measurements of the absolute value of the penetration depth in high- T_c superconductors using a tunnel diode resonator

A method is presented to measure the absolute value of the London penetration depth, $\lambda$, from the frequency shift of a resonator. The technique involves coating a high-$T_c$ superconductor (HTSC) with film of low - Tc material of known thickness and penetration depth. The method is applied to measure London penetration depth in YBa2Cu3O{7-\delta} (YBCO) Bi2Sr2CaCu2O{8+\delta} (BSCCO) and Pr{1.85}Ce{0.15}CuO{4-\delta}$ (PCCO). For YBCO and BSCCO, the values of $\lambda (0)$ are in agreement with the literature values. For PCCO $\lambda \approx 2790$ \AA, reported for the first time.