Andreev bound states (ABS) at the surface of superconductors are expected for
any pair potential showing a sign change in different k-directions with their
spectral weight depending on the relative orientation of the surface and the
pair potential. We report on the observation of ABS in HTS employing tunneling
spectroscopy on bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions (GBJs). The
tunneling spectra were studied as a function of temperature and applied
magnetic field. The tunneling spectra of GBJ formed by YBCO, BSCCO, and LSCO
show a pronounced zero bias conductance peak that can be interpreted in terms
of Andreev bound states at zero energy that are expected at the surface of HTS
having a d-wave symmetry of the order parameter. In contrast, for the most
likely s-wave HTS NCCO no zero bias conductance peak was observed. Applying a
magnetic field results in a shift of spectral weight from zero to finite
energy. This shift is found to depend nonlinearly on the applied magnetic
field. Further consequences of the Andreev bound states are discussed and
experimental evidence for anomalous Meissner currents is presented.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.