Practical significance of the ferroelastic nature of the superconductor Y-Ba-Cu-O

The salient ferroelastic properties of the 90 K superconductor Y-Ba-Cu-O are discussed. A number of practical implications of these properties are pointed out. These include the proposal of a method for increasing the critical current density of this material in composite form, and the easy fabricability of a bicrystal for applications as a Josephson tunneling device. An explanation is offered for the large pseudomalleability exhibited by silver-based cermets of this material.