Rogers Corporation to Highlight Materials for Millimeter Wave Designs at PCB West 2022

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Rogers Corporation will exhibit at PCB West in Santa Clara, CA (booth #201) highlighting some of its high-performance circuit materials used in multilayer structures which include a family of thin laminates and bonding materials.

PCB West provides in-depth technical training and access to a host of leading suppliers to the printed circuit board design, fabrication, and assembly industry. Held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, the event takes place October 5^th from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Rogers Presentation

Rogers’ Technical Marketing Manager, John Coonrod, will present “Understanding High Frequency Materials Test Methods for Dk and Df” on Wednesday, October 5, from 10 to 11 a.m. Coonrod’s presentation will review the many different test methods which can be used to determine the dielectric constant (Dk) or dissipation factor (Df) for a high frequency circuit material.  He will explain how it is possible to test the same circuit material, using two different test methods, get two different answers and both answers can be correct.  

Rogers’ Materials at Booth 201:

SpeedWave® 300P Ultra-Low Loss Prepreg. With the increasing need for stackup flexibility in high layer count designs for 5G millimeter wave, high resolution 77 GHz automotive radar, aerospace & defense and high speed digital designs, SpeedWave 300P prepreg offers a broad range of competitively priced high performance options for the circuit designer. SpeedWave 300P prepreg can be used to bond a variety of Rogers’ materials including XtremeSpeed™ RO1200™, CLTE-MW™, and RO4000® series laminates.

This prepreg system offers a low dielectric constant of 3.0 – 3.3 and a low dissipation factor of 0.0019 – 0.0022 at 10 GHz with stable performance over a broad frequency range. This material is offered in multiple spread and open weave glass styles and resin content combinations to maximize stackup options.

RO3003G2™ 9 micron Laminates with Electrodeposited HVLP Foil

Thin copper foil can simplify the PCB fabrication steps required to consistently produce reliable millimeter wave radar PCBs.  Utilizing 9 micron foils on antenna outer layers for millimeter wave radar PCBs can help PCB fabricators achieve tighter final feature tolerance for signal lines and antenna patterns.  Additionally, starting with 9 micron copper on RO3003G2 laminate, instead of 18 micron copper, can reduce the copper reduction steps needed by the PCB fabricator to meet the final PCB copper thickness requirements after filled via formation.

RO4835IND™ LoPro® Laminates

RO4835IND LoPro thermoset laminates are specially designed for 60-81 GHz short-range industrial radar applications, where excellent electrical performance and cost-efficiency are equally important. These laminates also provide environmental reliability and interconnection stability, which are critical criteria for PCB material selection.

With a low insertion loss of 2.13dB/inch at 60 GHz, these laminates meet customers’ critical radar coverage requirements. The expanded weave fiber provides excellent Dk uniformity, and Rogers’ tight quality control provides low Dk variation from lot to lot. RO4835IND LoPro laminates are compatible with standard epoxy/glass (FR-4) processes and have a higher fabrication yield rate than conventional PTFE-based laminates. Low material and fabrication costs make RO4835IND LoPro laminates a cost-effective solution for industrial radar.

RO4000® Products for Multilayer Structures:

Next generation products designed to meet the existing and emerging needs of advanced millimeter wave multilayer designs. RO4835T™ laminates, offered in a 2.5 mil, 3 mil and 4 mil core thickness, are 3.3 Dk, low loss, spread glass reinforced, ceramic filled thermoset materials designed for inner-layer use in multilayer board designs, and they complement RO4835™ laminates when thinner cores are needed.

RO4450T™ 3.2-3.3 Dk, low loss, spread glass reinforced, ceramic filled bonding materials were designed to complement RO4835T laminates and the existing RO4000 laminate family, and come in 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 or 6 mil thicknesses.

RO4835T laminates and RO4450T bonding materials exhibit excellent Dk control for repeatable electrical performance, a low z-axis expansion for plated through-hole reliability and are compatible with standard epoxy/glass (FR-4) processes. These materials are an excellent choice for multilayer designs requiring sequential laminations, as fully cured RO4000 products are capable of withstanding multiple lamination cycles. RO4835T laminates and RO4450T bondplys have the UL 94 V-0 flame retardant rating and are compatible with lead-free processes.