High-Performance RF/Microwave PCB Laminate Material Comparison (ISOLA vs. Panasonic)

ISOLA and Panasonic both manufacture PCB laminate materials designed for high-performance, high-speed/RF/microwave applications.

When choosing a high-performance PCB laminate you need to consider:

• thermal performance
• low dissipation factor (Df)
• stable Df characteristics
• low Z-axis Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE)
• skew mitigation properties
• characteristics to improve rise times
• jitter reduction
• conductor loss reduction

One of the key characteristics of high-frequency laminate material is the stability of the dissipation factor (Df) since this will tell you how signal losses occur and their distribution across the frequency band of operation.

Also, a stable dielectric constant (Dk) and consequently a stable impedance across the length and width of a substrate is important.

High-frequency laminates display little change in the Dk with variations in temperature over a wide range.

In an RF or microwave circuit, the value of the dielectric constant will impact the PCB’s trace sizes and therefore the size of the PCB. Higher Dk PCB materials can result in smaller PCBs.

The table below displays the key electrical and mechanical attributes of the ISOLA I-Tera® MT40, ISOLA Tachyon® 100G, Panasonic Megtron6, and Panason Megtron7 for ease of comparison.