Tin Pest: A Forgotten Issue in the Field of Applied Superconductivity?

Shear ruptures of Cu samples soldered with Sn96Ag4 and Sn60Pb40 alloys have been measured at 300 K and 77 K. An average degradation of about 37 % of the shear rupture strength has been observed at cold for samples soldered with the lead-free alloy. This effect can be attributed to the tin pest.