The ternary eutectic behavior of Sn-Ag-Cu and its application for electronics assembly was discovered ( and patented ) by a team of researchers from Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, and from Sandia National Laboratories-Albuquerque.
2.
The widespread use of this popular lead-free solder alloy family is based on the reduced melting point of the Sn-Ag-Cu ternary eutectic behavior ( 217 ?C ), which is below the 22 / 78 Sn-Ag ( wt . % ) eutectic of 221 �C and the 59 / 41 Sn-Cu eutectic of 227 �C ( recently revised by P . Snugovsky to 53 / 47 Sn-Cu ).