PCB Material Selection: How Substrate Properties Impact PCB Performance

From the early 15th century until the 17th century, artists used the Flemish masters’ method to create life-like paintings. This process begins with a pencil, charcoal, or ink pen drawing and continues with the imprimatura—or the first transparent, olive-tinged stain of color. Then, the method moves to the first umber underpainting, sanding, second umber underpainting, sanding, and a monochromatic underpainting.

Each underpainting layer focuses on details along with the tonality of painted subjects and requires a precise approach. After the application of those layers plus additional sanding to create a smooth surface, the artist coats the entire canvas with oil and moves on to the first and second color layers. The second layer focuses on details and texture. An additional cleaning sets the stage for a final color layer that emphasizes the brightest of the image.

PCB Designers: Layout Engineers and Materials Wizards

Circuit board or printed circuits will largely have commonalities in requirements for circuit material and board space layout concepts. Whether you’re looking to begin designing or an experienced layout designer, the main pain points of a good design process remain the same: routing traces to manage copper, component placement to maintain signal and power integrity, and designing a printed circuit that can actually be manufactured with an eye on solder masks and packaging.

How do you know how to optimize your designs based on materials?

Designing a PCB involves the same approach that the “old masters” used when following the Flemish technique. An artist focuses on the finished product while constantly thinking about small details. The “old masters’ approach” to PCB design involves better understanding the of a PCB and how different properties of substrates and conductors impact PCB performance. For example, commonly accepted substrate materials may detract from PCB performance at high frequencies.

PCB Material Selection: What’s Underneath Counts

The Flemish technique highly prioritizes a good foundation. Each underpainting layer adds depth to the final work. With the foundation in mind, you should have a greater understanding of the thermal, electrical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the substrate. Listed in table one, each of those can interact and each impacts PCB performance—but in various ways.

Table One – Substrate Properties

Substrate material selection impacts circuit performance and potentially circuit material choice. For example, knowing the CTE of substrate materials becomes a high priority because problems can occur if two substrate materials (or even the substrate and components) across the same printed circuit board have a CTE mismatch. Substrates with mismatched CTEs can have defects caused by expansion at different rates or because the dielectric constant of the substrates becomes unstable. While components such as silicon memory chips may have a low CTE, fiberglass laminates have high CTEs. The difference in expansion rates can cause solder joints to crack or damage components.

It’s Not a Good Mix

Artists using the Flemish technique choose very specific colors and types of brushes to achieve the optimal tone and depth. Mistakes occur if an artist fails to consider how oils, varnishes, and paints interact. Selecting a PCB material for substrates requires a similar approach. Different variables can change the impedance of circuits—especially when those circuits operate at high speeds and high frequencies. For example, moisture absorption and thermal conductivity can affect the dielectric constant. PCBs with moisture-absorbing materials or heat-generating components have a higher dielectric constant, which, in turn, affects circuit performance at high frequencies. Additionally, design needs, for example requiring flexible PCB substrate, can radically change the material selection. In this case the flexible PCB requires much closer consideration for material and design interactions.

Changes in impedance or impedance mismatches can cause high-speed digital signals to reflect energy back to the signal source. Referring to Table Two, substrate materials used for high-frequency circuits must have a dielectric constant that remains stable over a wide range of frequencies. PTFE has a low dielectric constant that does not vary with frequency. Because PTFE has a high CTE, you should ensure that other materials used on the PCB also have a high CTE.

Table Two – PCB Material Substrate Properties by Type

Unlike PTFE, the standard FR-4 substrate material does not work for high-frequency circuits. Furthermore, the dielectric constant of FR-4 does not remain constant with changes in temperature. If the temperature range for the application increases, the variations become more significant and cause the impedance to change. In addition, the variations in dielectric constant also affect the capability to achieve and maintain a flat response as frequencies increase.

CircuitStudio^® offers high-performance solutions with a cohesive, user-friendly interface to quickly and accurately complete your PCB design--regardless of PCB material selection, temperature changes, or dielectric constant variations. To learn more about developing reliable designs and optimizing your PCB material selection process, talk to an expert at Altium Designer.