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JUNE 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 19 You can also use it to fix coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatches. You can use it in general packaging because the resin flows around and encapsulates it, which means you can use it for embedding ICs. Even with pas- sive components, having a layer of this pure resin can actually fill in the aperture where you've embedded your device. Another use is in the mechanical perfor- mance area. When you need to make accelera- tion-resistant coils or anti-shake devices in the automotive space, for example, you don't want vibrations to change the electrical properties. You can use this material to micro-encap- sulate devices and coils, especially small coils, to stop them from vibrating and moving around. Because it's supplied as a film, you can simply use it wherever you want. at's the beauty of it. If you have one area of your board with many components, you just put the film over those pieces. You cut it out, tack it on, and heat it up in the press. e resin will flow into those areas. From Ventec's point of view, we call these materials pro-bond, and there's a whole range of them, from pro-bond 4 to pro-bond 20. is material will provide the low loss properties required for a whole range of products includ- ing filters and couplers, aerospace and auto- motive radar, beam steering antenna, and RF multilayer designs. When considering using nontraditional material options for RF or high-speed designs, is there a cost savings using bondply over traditional RF materials? It is simply another option over only going to traditional RF materials. ere are, of course, different cost points. e fact is when you take the glass reinforcement out of the mate- rial, it gives you more electrical homogeneity, which is a tremendous benefit over some other options. You've got a very uniform material in which the electrical signal sees the same sub- strate with the same kind of profile as it runs across the material, so it's an option. ere are many options these days, whether you're using it for building up sequential layers or you want to use it for embedding. ere are many advan- tages to using non-glass-reinforced materials. RF and high-speed digital share some of the same electrical requirements. RF gener- ally needs homogeneity and pro-bond miti- gates the micro-impedance effects of using glass-reinforced materials. We are supplying both sectors with pro-bond. Most of the communication regard- ing its benefits are around signal integrity, whether that's digital or RF and there are many reasons why you would want to choose it. What about its thermal properties? Does bondply offer thermal advantages? at is an interesting area, and I suppose one where things come together in our circuit designs. At Ventec, we call it thermal-bond material. Imagine a set of materials, as I have explained them, resin-coated copper foils and resin-coated films that have improved ther- mal properties as well. Typical FR-4 material might have a thermal conductivity of around 0.3 watts per meter Kelvin. With thermal- bond, we can get up to 7 watts per meter Kel- vin, basically 10 to 20 times more. So, we can transfer a lot more heat and as devices have gotten smaller and more pow- erful, you have a heat issue. We spend a lot of time talking now about thermal management in devices. It is an issue, again, in high fre- quency radar, with lots of energy being dissi- pated, which needs to be disposed of. ere are many initiatives there. RF and high-speed digital share some of the same electrical requirements.