Field dependence and anisotropy of the Meissner effect in sintered and dilute powders of YBa2Cu3O7

We report low temperature field-cooled susceptibility measurements on sintered and dilute YBa2Cu3O7 powders in a 3-40 Oe field range. We find that the so-called Meissner fraction is field dependent, increasing as the field increases in ceramics and decreasing in powders. We also find a strong anisotropy, in both sets of samples: the Meissner fraction is larger when the field is applied parallel to the c axis. All these features are shown to emerge naturally if one assumes that the low temperature Meissner fraction: i) reflects the field dependence and the anisotropic properties of the equilibrium Meissner fraction which has been trapped at higher temperature. ii) is further reduced and its anisotropy is enhanced in sintered compounds with respect to powders, due to flux pinning at the grain boundaries