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10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 Feature Interview by Andy Shaughnessy I-CONNECT007 Innovation rarely sleeps in this industry, and the RF laminate segment offers a perfect exam- ple. RF materials have continued to evolve, providing PCB designers much more than an either/or choice. I asked materials expert Alun Morgan, technology ambassador for the Ven- tec International Group, to walk us through the available RF material sets and how smart material selection can ease the burden on RF designers and design engineers. Andy Shaughnessy: Alun, just give us a quick refresher: How are RF materials different from traditional PCB laminates? Alun Morgan: RF covers a broad range of fre- quencies, oen defined as the spectrum from Material Selection and RF Design 3 KHz to 300 GHz. At the low end, traditional materials are fine; however, the influence of the material becomes much more critical as frequency increases. How does RF differ from HSD (high speed digital)? ey are two different worlds, with very dif- ferent design requirements. RF is primar- ily concerned with the propagation of analog waveforms, whereas HSD is primarily con- cerned with the transmission of binary digital bitstreams. Each has its particular benefits and drawbacks. e good news is that materials designed for high-speed digital applications are also generally suitable for high-frequency analog circuits.