The Best Material for High Frequency PCB

The PCB laminate material you choose for high frequency PCB is critical to the overall function and shelf life of the final product. When the working frequency drifts to microwave or even RF area, the selection of PCB laminate material will have a significant impact on the overall loss of the finished circuit after PCB assembly. In determining the best material for a given PCB manufacturing project, careful consideration must be given to electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, so that the selection process is somewhat multifaceted. Fortunately, bitteletronics is here to help you!

At bittele, we maintain a healthy and up-to-date demand for PCB laminates in stock to ensure that you can avoid the delivery time of required substrates. Our most common requirement is FR-4 material, which is made of glass fiber braid and epoxy resin, and we always stock it as one of PCB options at standard price. FR-4 is a solid material with excellent thermal properties, which is quite reasonable at RF or microwave frequency level.

Some customers who are designed for particularly demanding applications, such as high-power or broadband circuits, find that the FR-4 sometimes does not work at higher frequencies. In these cases, we are always happy to help you find the laminate material suitable for your specific needs, and we can easily adjust our highly customizable PCB assembly process to ensure that your project delivery time is not affected. Please note that our PCB manufacturing calculator estimates prices based on FR-4 materials, and if you choose other substrates, you may see some additional costs in the official quotation.

Materials of high frequency circuit board

High frequency boards, such as for wireless applications and data rates in the higher GHz range, have special requirements for the materials used:

• Dielectric constant
• Low attenuation, effective signal transmission
• Homogeneous structure with low tolerance of insulation thickness and dielectric constant

For many applications, it is sufficient to use FR4 materials with proper stacking. In addition, we also process high frequency materials with improved dielectric properties. They have very low loss factor, low dielectric constant and are mainly independent of temperature and frequency. Other advantages are high glass transition temperature, excellent thermal durability and very low hydrophilicity.

The main problem of FR-4 at higher frequencies is its relatively high dielectric constant, which is generally considered to be about 4.5. As mentioned above, FR-4 can still be used as a suitable laminate for high frequency PCB, but at bittele, we also provide a series of materials specially designed to maintain signal integrity in RF and microwave areas.

Rogers has developed the most popular high frequency specialty laminate with the prefix “ro -“. Compared with the standard FR-4, the dielectric constant of these high-quality materials is reduced by about 20%; they also have excellent thermal properties with TG values higher than 280 ° C.

Generally, we will keep the stock of ro4350b and ro4003c as they are the most commonly used requirements in Rogers materials, but it is better to call us in advance to ensure that your requirements can be met at any time. If you need Rogers or any other PCB substrate, please feel free to contact our excellent customer service team; for your official quotation, please send your PCB design document to info-01@alcantapcb.com 。 We can help you find the specific materials you need, or discuss with you options that are appropriate for your project.