Patent ID: 7946467

Claim:
A braze material comprising: a plurality of particles each having a nominal size, an outermost surface, an outer surface region defining the outermost surface, and a core region beneath the outer surface region and constituting the remainder of the particle, wherein each particle is formed of a first material having a melting point; and a plurality of particulates embedded within and finely distributed throughout the outer surface region of each particle so as to be contained throughout the outer surface region of each particle, below the outermost surface of each particle, and substantially absent from the core region of each particle, at least some of the particulates being formed of a second material chosen from the group consisting of materials with lower melting points than the melting point of the first material of the particles and materials that are more susceptible to heating by microwave radiation than the first material of the particles, the particulates having a nominal size of less than 1/100 of the nominal size of the particles and constituting up to 90 volume percent of the outer surface regions of the particles; wherein if the melting point of the second material of the particulates is lower than the melting point of the first material of the particles, the particulates are present in the outer surface regions of the particles in an amount sufficient to enable at least the outer surface regions of the particles to melt when the particles are heated to a temperature above the melting point of the particulates but less than the melting point of the particles; wherein if the second material of the particulates is more susceptible to heating by microwave radiation than the first material of the particles, the particulates are present in the outer surface regions of the particles in an amount sufficient to enable at least the outer surface regions of the particles to melt when the particles are subjected to heating by microwave radiation.