Low temperature alloys

Mounting natural crystals to form an 'ohmic' (normal) connection while holding them securely to allow a cat's whisker to be positioned is a tricky problem. In the past they were either held by a metal ring with screws (which can be problematic as it can break the fragile crystals) or using a conductive low temperature alloy.

The reason it needs to be low temperature is because heating them too high - e.g. soldering them normally, can cause changes to the crystals. I tried dipping pyrite in solder to mount it in the past (in a well ventilated place!), and seemed to work at first, but seemed to slowly crumble away over time.