Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/19768-premix-launches-preperm-product-family-with-tailored-dielectric-properties

Premix launches PREPERM product family with tailored dielectric properties

May 6, 2013

Premix, the leading specialist in conductive plastics, launches the PREPERM® product family with customizable dielectric properties for high-frequency applications. The new product range provides high-frequency device manufacturers with an outstanding material that maximizes performance without increasing overall costs. PREPERM grades can be cost-effectively injection molded to high frequency antenna parts. PREPERM is available for global volume deliveries today.

Designers working on high-frequency devices are faced with a constant challenge of maximizing operational performance while minimizing equipment size. Traditional plastic compounds used for insulating high-frequency devices, such as antennas or connectors, cause energy loss and limit equipment size.

Premix now launches the PREPERM plastic compound product family to address the challenges radio frequency designers face in their everyday work. The PREPERM compound is specifically designed to provide an extremely low dissipation factor together with the possibility to reduce equipment size - thus giving the product designers the possibility to optimize the performance of their current designs.

Application areas for PREPERM compounds include any high-frequency equipment, such as antennas and high-speed connectors.

One of the key benefits of PREPERM is the extremely low dissipation factor of the material. In most cases, the dielectric loss is 0.0005 at gigahertz frequencies, making the material superior to commonly used plastic compounds, such as PEI, PC/ABS and LCP. To cater for individual customer needs, Premix provides a high degree of customization options. The PREPERM plastic grades cover the dielectric constant between 2.55 and 21 and allow adjusting the value exactly to the required level. This allows designers to manipulate material qualities: increasing the dielectric constant enables decreasing the wavelength and allows smaller antenna units, for example.

“Tailoring the dielectric constant opens up new possibilities for RF designers, as they can now enjoy the design freedom of selecting the optimal value for their product”, says Tuomas Kiikka, Business Development Director at Premix.

Equipment made of PREPERM can operate at very high frequencies as the material offers stable performance even at 120 GHz. PREPERM also offers excellent physical properties down to -78°C. In addition, the material provides very low water absorption, allowing it to retain a low loss factor even in humid conditions.

For existing product designs, PREPERM provides an alternative material that improves device performance without increasing production costs. This low-loss compound can replace most commonly used materials without a need for redesigning molds. Consequently, manufacturers can now select a more efficient material alternative without changing their current designs or increasing their overall costs.

PREPERM is available globally for volume deliveries today. PREPERM has already been selected by several leading mobile network equipment manufacturers for improving their antenna designs.

Key facts: PREPERM plastic compound products are tailored for high-frequency equipment, such as antennas and connectors PREPERM offers an extremely low dissipation factor with dielectric loss of 0.0005 or less Dielectric constant can be customized anywhere between 2.55 and 21 Stable performance in high frequencies, up to 120 GHz