We have measured the pinning force due to twin boundaries by measuring the magnetic torque produced when a field is applied perpendicular to the c axis and rotated with respect to the ab axes. At 76 K, the torque increases roughly fourfold, when the field is within 2° of the parallel to the twin boundaries. This peak is absent at 27 K. Irradiation with 5×1016 cm−2 3.5 MeV protons increases the overall critical current and eliminates the peaks observed at 76 K.
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Gyorgy et al. (1990) studied this question.