Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1520701
40 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2024 • e glass epoxy material (FR-4), com- monly used for PCBs, exhibits negligible loss for digital applications below 1 GHz. • When the frequency exceeds 1 GHz, copper roughness, conductor loss, skin effect, and skew, due to variations of glass weave in the dielectric, begin to come into play. • Low dielectric constant and loss polymeric materials are widely used in printed circuit boards and communication materials due to several advantages, including process- ability, thermal stability, and electrical insulation. • While opting for low-cost materials might seem tempting, it oen comes with com- promises in quality. • e dielectric material selection primarily hinges on the frequency and rise time of the digital signal. DESIGN007 Resources • "It's a Material World," "Material Selection for Serdes Design," "Material Selection for High-speed Design," by Barry Olney • Research progress of low dielectric constant polymer materials, Zhendong Hu, et al • Polymer-based low dielectric constant and loss materials for high-speed communication network: Dielectric constants and challenges, MD Zahidul Islam, et al. Barry Olney is managing direc- tor of In-Circuit Design Pty Ltd (iCD), Australia, a PCB design service bureau that special- izes in board-level simulation. The company developed the iCD Design Integrity software incorporating the iCD Stackup, PDN, and CPW Planner. The software can be down- loaded at www.icd.com.au. To read past columns, click here. Figure 4: Dielectric constant of comparable dielectric materials. (Source: iCD Materials Planner)