Solder alloys are combinations in solution or mixture of two or more elements of which at least one is a metal and whose resulting material has different metallic properties from those of the individual elements.

An alloy with two components is called a “binary” alloy; one with three is a ternary alloy, and one with four is a quaternary alloy.

Unlike pure metals, many solder alloys do not have a single melting point, but go through a melting range in which the material is a mixture of solid and liquid phases. The temperature at which melting begins is called solidus, and the temperature at which melting is complete is called liquidus.

There are some combinations of metals in certain percentages that can form solder alloys that have a single melting point: these are called eutectic.

Alloys with melting points below 450°C are used in electronics.

The best known and most widely used has been the Tin and Lead based alloy (63/37 or 60/40).

Following RoHS regulation it has been replaced by tin-copper (99.3/0.7) and tin-silver (96/4) alloys or the well-known SAC305, Tin 96.5, Silver 3 and Copper 0.5.

Chem Solutions, through collaboration with Broquetas, can now offer wave and selective solder alloys and flux cored wires of different diameters and fluxes.