As the only metal with good mechanical properties in air at temperatures above 1600°C, iridium is used for the crucibles in which presintered mixed oxides are melted during the growing of high purity single crystals for electronic applications. Fabrication techniques have been developed to enable these crucibles to be manufactured to the required high standard, none-the-less the factors that govern the deformation of iridium are not yet fully established.

A recent letter from the Department of Physics of the Urals State University, U.S.S.R., where the deformation and fracture of metals is a traditional subject of research, contributes to the topic with a discussion of the possible cause of cleavage in iridium single crystals (P. Panfilov, A. Yermakov and G. Baturin, J. Mater. Sci., Lett., 1990, 9, (10), 1162-1164).