Changes

*Alloys

*Composite materials

From this group silver has the greatest importance for switching devices in the higher energy technology. Other precious metals such as gold and platinum are only used in applications for the information technology in the form of thin surface layers. As a nonprecious metal tungsten is used for some special applications such as for example as automotive horn contacts. In some rarer cases pure copper is used but mainly paired to a silver-based contact material.

Besides these few pure metals a larger number of alloy materials made by melt technology are available for the use as contacts. An alloy is characterized by the fact that its components are completely or partially soluble in each other in the solid state. Phase diagrams for multiple metal compositions show the number and type of the crystal structure as a function of the temperature and composition of the alloying components.