Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/21758-rogers-highlights-latest-circuit-materials-pcb-techniques-at-ipc-apex-expo

Rogers highlights latest circuit materials & PCB techniques at IPC APEX EXPO

March 6, 2014

Rogers Corp. will be promoting its industry-leading printed circuit board (PCB) materials at the IPC APEX EXPO, being held March 25-27, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Convention Center (Las Vegas, NV). The IPC APEX EXPO (www.ipcapexexpo.org), with more than 400 exhibiting companies and thousands of attendees, is a leading industry event for professionals involved in PCB design and manufacturing and electronic assembly and test.

Representatives from Rogers Corp. (www.rogerscorp.com) will be at exhibition Booth 1828 with information and insight on the use of their wide range of circuit materials, including Rogers COOLSPAN® TECA film, and RO4835™ and RO4360G2™ high-frequency laminates.

Rogers' COOLSPAN TECA film is a thermally and electrically conductive adhesive that is ideal for bonding circuit boards to heavy metal backplanes, heat sinks, and housings. The thermosetting, epoxy-based, silver-filled adhesive is a practical alternative to fusion bonding, sweat soldering, press-fit, and other mechanical approaches for attaching circuits to associated structures. COOLSPAN TECA film, which is supplied in sheet form on a PET carrier, is able to survive lead-free solder processing and offers outstanding chemical resistance and high temperature performance, helping you to keep things cool.

Rogers' RO4835 high frequency laminates, specially formulated with improved oxidation resistance were developed for applications needing a special level of electrical stability over time and temperature, while maintaining the cost advantages of a thermoset, FR-4 processable material.  Just as with RO4350B material, RO4835 laminates offer a dielectric constant of 3.48 at 10 GHz, a low loss tangent of 0.0037 at 10 GHz, and a low z-axis coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) for excellent plated-through-hole (PTH) reliability under a variety of processing and operating conditions. These improved oxidation resistance circuit materials exhibit x- and y-axis expansion coefficients similar to that of copper. RO4835 laminates are RoHS-compliant, do not require special preparation, and can be processed using standard fabrication methods.

RO4360G2™ laminates have a tailored high Dk of 6.15 @ 10 GHz, which allows next generation power amplifier designers to meet size and cost reduction targets. Specifically, the laminate’s higher Dk allows for a significant reduction in finished circuit board size (20-30%). RO4360G2 laminates process similar to FR-4, are automated assembly compatible, and offer the same reliability and repeatability that customers have come to expect from Rogers RO4350B™ material.

With a UL 94V-0 flame rating and fully lead-free process capable, these laminates possess excellent thermal conductivity of .81 W/m/K for improved reliability, a low Z-axis CTE for reliable plated through holes, and drill performance as good as or better than RO4350B laminates.

Along with the exhibition, Rogers will present at the IPC APEX EXPO technical conference, March 27, 10:00 a.m. – Noon, with an educational presentation by John Coonrod, Market Development Engineer at Rogers Advanced Circuits Materials Division: “The Effect of Radiation Losses on High Frequency PCB Performance.” The presentation will help users of circuit materials to understand how signal power can be lost through electromagnetic (EM) radiation, and how circuit materials can differ in their radiation-loss properties.