Formation of coherent twins in YBa2Cu3O7–δ superconductors

Abstract
A nucleation-and-growth mechanism for the twin formation in YBa2Cu3O7–δ superconductors based on the oxygen uptake rate curve and published transmission electron microscopic observations is proposed together with an oxygen-depleted twin boundary model. The difficulty of reaching stoichiometric YBa2Cu3O7 is explained.