Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467744
74 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2022 formulate it differently for lower cost or I can get to even lower loss levels because I'm not using a flame retardant that increases loss." I think those types of conversations are going to happen more oen going forward. Johnson: Regarding automotive Europe and charging stations, what is happening, from your perspective as a manufacturer, with global copper supply? ere is going to be such a huge demand globally because the very idea of building out an electric vehicle charging net- work creates the need for an almost unimagi- nable amount of copper. Kelley: Yeah… buy copper (laughs). I've seen different projections, but they all forecast an incredible amount of copper that's needed. Johnson: is creates very stiff competition to get the copper we need. How big is that chal- lenge for the industry? Kelley: ere are two areas to discuss. First, there are batteries, but if you put that aside for a minute and think about printed circuit boards that support electric vehicles and charging sta- tions, there are technical challenges in addition to the supply question. OEMs continue to look at the relation- ship between circuit design, operating voltage, thermal reli- ability and CAF resistance. e automotive industry used to test at 100 volts, went to 350, then 500, and now 1,000 and 1,500; we're bringing in CAF test capability to go to 2,000 volts internally. We're learning a lot of things about that because it's different at 1,500 volts than it is at 100 volts, I can assure you. With materials, there's some interesting phenomena hap- pening that you don't see at the lower voltages. In designs that may use 6- or 12-ounce copper innerlayers, there are additional challenges the base mate- rials and printed circuit processes face. We introduced a product last year called IS550H, which was developed for high voltage applications. e automotive OEMs are ask- ing, "What are my design rules for a PCB at these voltages? How close together can I put features?" Well, that will depend on the mate- rial you're using. ere's this chicken and egg or iterative process where OEMs are testing existing materials, asking for better, and we're all working on better materials. en we have to test those materials and say, "Here's how your design rules can change with this mate- rial." But again, that all assumes there's going to be enough copper. Johnson: It sounds somewhat like the same dynamic you have in 5G. Kelley: True. And the automotive OEMs are starting to request low loss materials for auto- motive applications, the in-car, connected computer-on-wheels kinds of things rather than electric vehicles, per se. But it's not some- thing we're used to having the automotive OEMs ask us. More thermal analysis equipment in the new site.