High Performance PCB Laminates & Modeling for Microwave/mmWave Applications

Presented by: Jiyoun Munn, Technical Product Manager for the RF Module at COMSOL and John Coonrod, Technical Marketing Manager at Rogers Corp. The performance of microwave and millimeter wave circuits in the application areas of 5G, IoT, 77 GHz radars and satellite communications may vary with different PCB materials. Evaluation of the circuit before fabrication and test through electromagnetics simulation tools is beneficial to reduce the time and effort required in the design process during the development cycle. It is important to choose accurate material properties such as relative dielectric constant and loss tangent to get reliable simulation results. When higher frequency is need for 5G devices, the surface roughness of the conductive layer may not be negligible, so it should be included in the simulation as well.

In this webinar, you can see a live demonstration in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software showing how to set up and run a simulation to design and evaluate a Grounded Coplanar Waveguide (GCPW) line. We will investigate the impact on the performance of the circuit board by choosing different types of material and surface roughness models. There will be an overview of the Rogers PCB materials to overcome the effects of conductor surface roughness by selecting lower-profile copper foils for minimal surface-roughness effects and lower conductor losses at higher frequency applications.