Materials/Packages

A Fast and Flexible Circuit Board Plotter

When employing circuit board plotters for product development the main requirement is for fast, efficient and flexible operation. Consequently, the high costs incurred by the long waiting periods inherent when externally procuring circuit board prototypes, particularly those with RF substrates, can be avoided. The ProtoMat 95s/II meets these requirements,...
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Reviewing the Basics of Suspended Striplines

Suspended striplines are widely used for several reasons. They provide high Q-factor, wide bandwidth and good temperature stability. This tutorial reviews some of the basic principles and new concepts for suspended striplines.
There are several reasons for the wide use of printed transmission lines. They are simple to produce, they operate over a wide bandwidth, and have small weight and dimensions. The earliest form of printed transmission lines was the stripline ( Figure 1a ). 1,2 The printed stripline consists of...
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Diclad Liquid Crystalline Polymer Circuit Material for Multilayer PCBs

A new liquid crystalline polymer circuit material for multilayer PCBs is featured on this month's cover
In today's age of high speed Internet, high frequency wireless and wireline communications, conventional materials are reaching their performance limits. Copper-based electrical connections are being limited by the dielectric properties of the insulating layer. Solutions using optical connections are available but are too expensive. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCP) are...
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A Frequency Discriminator With a Small Footprint

Introduction to a compact, high performance dual-speed delay-line discriminator
Product Feature A Frequency Discriminator With a Small Footprint Merrimac Industries Inc. West Caldwell, NJ Delay-line frequency discriminators have long been fundamental components in radar warning receivers, instantaneous frequency measurement receivers (IFM) and angle of arrival interferometers. They offer a high performance alternative to I and Q networks in...
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A Low Loss PTFE-based Bond Ply Material for Multi-layer PCB Applications

Introduction to a high performance, low loss laminate material for microwave telecommunications and high speed digital printed circuit board (PCB) applications
Product Feature A Low Loss PTFE-based Bond Ply Material for Multi-layer PCB Applications Taconic Advanced Dielectric Division Petersburgh, NY Growing needs are developing for pure package high performance, low loss laminate and prepreg materials for microwave telecommunications and high speed digital printed circuit board (PCB) applications. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perhaps...
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Laser-activateable Plastics and Laser Devices that Deliver Flexible 3D MID Technology

Use of 3D molded interconnect device (MID) technology to improve the range of laser-activateable plastics and laser devices
Product Feature Laser-activateable Plastics and Laser Devices that Deliver Flexible 3D MID Technology LPKF Laser & Electronics Garbsen, Germany In an increasingly competitive market those companies carrying out electronic production, especially small- to medium-sized enterprises, require fast, efficient and cost-effective solutions to aid the prototyping and production process. What...
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A New Planar Coupled-line Balun for Microwave Applications

Presentation of a simple and effective way to relax the narrow spacing requirement between coupled lines in conventional planar Marchand baluns
Technical Note A New Planar Coupled-line Balun for Microwave Applications This article presents a novel inward collateral coupled-line balun. The new design provides an effective and simple way to avoid the narrow line spacing used in conventional planar Marchand baluns. A new structure with l /4 collateral coupled-lines has...
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Technology and Innovation in Single Layer Capacitors

Introduction to the buried single layer capacitor,™ a technologically advanced device manufactured for high frequency microwave applications
Application Note Technology and Innovation in Single Layer Capacitors Lambert Devoe and Alan Devoe Presidio Components Inc. San Diego, CA Single layer capacitors have been manufactured for many years for high frequency microwave applications. The simple parallel plate structure has advantages over multi-layer capacitors up to gigahertz frequencies due...
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Stainless Steel Coaxial Cable with Medium Loss at 36 GHz

Development of a high performance stainless steel coaxial cable with medium loss at 36 GHz
Product Feature Stainless Steel Coaxial Cable with Medium Loss at 36 GHz Fig. 1 Loss per 100 ft. vs. frequency. Anyone who has tried to use copper cable for high frequency connections in high stress environments knows that it does not hold up very well for long. Attempts to...
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