Introduction of dislocation into YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ and effect on J_c characteristics

Dislocations accompanied by stacking faults are found in intragrain regions of polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ which is prepared by a solid-state reaction process. The process is characterized by the inclusion of high-temperature sintering. Transport critical current density J_c is measured in a liquid nitrogen bath at magnetic fields H up to 1.5 T. J_c at H>0.3 T hardly deteriorates, producing a nearly flat J_c-H characteristic at high fields. The result shows that the dislocations probably act as pinning centers for magnetic flux.