Melt-textured samples were deformed under high pressures and temperatures (2GPa, 900 and 800C, 0.25h). During the HP–HT treatment, samples were in contact with annealed zirconia, preventing O loss, in such a way that the orthorhombic superconductor phase was preserved at the end of the experiment. The deformed microstructure, investigated by transmitted electron microscopy, exhibited original features characterized by a very low twin density, a memory effect on the dislocations shape and a non-classical faulted loops distribution in the matrix. A mechanism, based on the interaction between twin and gliding dislocations, was proposed to explain the nucleation of these aligned loops.

Dislocation Configurations in Twin-Free Melt-Textured Cu3Ba2YO7 Processed at High Pressure and Temperature. A.Joulain, F.Sandiumenge, N.Vilalta, T.Prikhna, A.V.Vlasenko, J.Rabier: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2005, 85[8], 405-14