5. Conclusion

High-T _c superconductors are materials with very high application potential. They combine the advantages of superconductivity, a macroscopic quantum state that enables the production of devices whose performance exceeds that of conventional systems by several orders of magnitude, and of cryogenics that is energy-efficient and miniaturizable. A few devices are already on the market, but many laboratories have developed SHTc-based techniques for a wide range of industrial applications. The main obstacle to mass deployment of this technology lies in the complexity of the materials involved, and the consequent difficulty of mastering their synthesis on a reproducible, large-scale basis. Despite this, the steady progress being made in this field opens up real prospects for the near future.