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September 1, 2022 | Isola GroupEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Isola Group has long been a supplier of high-performance circuit materials for both high-frequency RF/microwave and high-speed-digital (HSD) circuits. And, as visitors to the upcoming 2022 European Microwave (EuMW) Exhibition will find out, those different materials can be processed at the same temperatures and with similar manufacturing methods, making them ideal candidates for mixed-signal, hybrid circuits of the future, combining RF/microwave and digital circuits at the highest frequencies and speeds. These hybrid circuit solutions can be designed and manufactured as compact, multilayer circuit assemblies to fit the tightest space requirements while achieving the most challenging electrical, mechanical, and environmental requirements.
The 2022 EuMW Conference & Exhibition is scheduled for September 25-30, 2022, at the Milano Convention Centre in Milan, Italy, as part of European Microwave Week. Visitors to Milan can partake in state-of-the-art technical presentations, educational workshops, and an exhibition floor expected to draw thousands of potential customers. Visitors to Booth F24 can learn about Isola Group’s line-up of high-performance circuit materials, including Astra® MT77, I-Tera® MT40, Tachyon® 100G, and TerraGreen® 400G.
Astra® MT77 is an excellent starting point for many RF/microwave circuits. It features a dielectric constant (Dk) which is stable with temperature, typically 3.00 in the z-axis (thickness) measured at 2 and 10 GHz. It offers among the lowest loss available in a microwave circuit material, with dissipation factor (Df) of 0.0017 at both 2 and 10 GHz.
I-Tera® MT40, with a Dk of 3.45 at 2 and 10 GHz, has Df of 0.0031 at 2 and 10 GHz. It is a robust substrate for HSD circuits and can be tailored to RF/microwave circuits as I-Tera® MT40 (RF/MW), with Dk from 3.38 to 3.75 at 2 and 10 GHz and Df from 0.0028 to 0.0035. The two materials deliver stable thermal performance with similar characteristics, including the same glass transition temperature (+200°C), to invite combination in production processes for mixed-signal circuits.
Visitors to the Isola Group booth (Booth F24) at the 2022 EuMW Exhibition can also explore the outstanding HSD circuit characteristics of Tachyon® 100G and the low-loss capabilities of TerraGreen® 400G for RF/microwave and HSD circuits in halogen-free applications. Tachyon® 100G, with a Tg of +200°C, maintains Dk consistent with frequency: 3.04 at 2 GHz dropping slightly to 3.02 at 10 GHz. Its loss is extremely low, with Df of 0.0021 at both 2 and 10 GHz. Halogen-free TerraGreen® 400G materials have a slightly higher Tg than the other materials, at +210°C. They are RoHS-compliant for lead-free processing and are well suited for mmWave circuits to 110 GHz and beyond.
Isola Group’s representatives will be on hand at the 2022 EuMW Exhibition to offer insights into the use of their circuit materials and to review manufacturing methods that can lead to cost-effective mixed-signal, multilayer circuits that combine RF, microwave, HSD, even millimeter-wave (mmWave) circuits at least through 110 GHz based on their circuit materials. Available as laminates with wide ranges of copper weights and as prepregs without metallization, the circuit materials provide the electrical, mechanical, and environmental performance levels needed for commercial, industrial, military, and space applications over wide operating temperatures (-55 to +125°C) with the ease of processing compatible with materials such as FR-4 to achieve the most practical, cost-effective hybrid circuit solutions combining high-frequency, high-speed circuits.
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