I recently noticed something that appeared in a 3rd party lab report that a customer shared with me. This lab report was an analysis of a NanoBond® the customer had performed and sent out to verify. The thing that struck me was that the technician reported “This sample exhibited small fractures in the [NanoFoil®] core material which we have seen before…” I started thinking about this, and there are very few products in the solder world other than NanoFoil that you would like to crack. In this case, cracking is a good thing!
You wouldn’t expect most soldering products to crack, but NanoFoil® isn’t like other soldering products. As the aluminum and nickel layers react, the foil shrinks and tends to curl. Since the curling action of the foil is restricted, the foil cracks. Solder flows between the cracks and bonds to the reacted NanoFoil® as well, creating a sort of micro-scale concrete.
Pretty interesting, huh? Here’s a link to learn more.
…And here’s a link to try it out!