The Guide To Selecting The Best PCB Materials

When you are designing your printed circuit board, it is important to think about the different materials that you are going to use. To do this, you will need to consider the purpose of your PCB and the types of conditions that it is likely to be used in.

Here, we are going to talk you through how to select the best PCB materials for your circuit board like standoffs, from bisco industries standoffs. Keep reading if you would like to find out more about printed circuit board materials.

 

Types Of Circuit Board

When you are looking at a comparison of PCB materials, it is important that you know about the different classifications of circuit boards. In terms of classifications, there is some criteria that you need to think about. For example, is the circuit board single layer or multilayer and is it rigid, flex or rigid-flex.

Other criteria include the electrical functionality of the circuit board and the component location – is it single-sided, double-sided or embedded? There are many different types of circuit board so remember to consider which type you are going to use when selecting your materials.

High-Frequency, High-Power, Microwave

If your circuit board is going to be high-speed, then you will find that it should accommodate frequencies in the 500MHz to 2GHz range. This type of board is recommended for a few different types of usage such as substrate or laminate. Some materials that should be used for a high-frequency board include Teflon, Polyimide and PTFE.

These three materials are also recommended for those boards that are considered to be high power and microwave. A high-power board needs to be able to carry very high currents and so the copper will need to be wider and should be able to withstand very high temperatures.

A microwave board is a type of board where speeds range from 1GHz to hundreds of GHz. Make sure to use these materials if you have one of these three types of boards.

High-Density

A high-density board is usually a little more complex than other boards. This is because they have thin traces and they utilise high-performance materials. If you are planning on designing a high-density board then you should think about using materials like FR-4 High Tg, CEM-1, CEM-3 or RF-35. These materials are typically used for substrate and laminate boards and could work really well for your project.

Standard

If the circuit board that you are designing is more of a standard board then you should consider using FR-4 as your material. This is also typically used for substrate and laminate boards and it can work really well for standard printed circuit boards.

Final Thoughts

If you are planning on designing a printed circuit board, make sure to compare all of the PCB materials carefully before going ahead with it. This will ensure that you are using the right materials and that your project is going to be a total success.