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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
Both YBa2Cu4O8 and (Y0.95Ca0.05)Ba2Cu4O8 were successfully prepared by firing for 160 h at 850 °C and at oxygen partial pressure of 3 atm without using any catalysts. These samples were characterized in terms of the crystallographic structure and thermal and superconducting properties. The x-ray powder diffraction patterns and superconducting properties for these samples were little changed after post-annealing for 6 h at 1070 °C and at oxygen partial pressure of 400 atm. However, when heat-treated at 700 °C in air and then quenched into liquid nitrogen, samples without post-annealing showed broader superconducting transitions than those post-annealed. Actually, the sharpness of the superconducting transition for a post-annealed sample was little affected by quenching. These observations were in agreement with the results of both transmission electron microscopy and thermal analyses.