Arlon PCB materials: What you need to know
When we start new product development, we will determine the functions and characteristics of the product. Many available functional options can be included in the product design. But according to customer requirements, specification sheets, limited time and cost, we use the best projects to make the design a high-quality product.
In this article, we will study an option of PCB laminate Arlon. We will discuss its definition, characteristics, types, advantages, and advantages with other materials. This guide will become a manual for engineers who plan to choose Arlon PCB materials for manufacturing.
What is Arlon PCB?
Arlon PCB is made of high-quality composite materials owned by Arlon LLC. They specialize in the production of PCB laminates, which are a kind of substrate used in high-frequency and high-speed fields. Arlon PCB material is made of PTFE microwave laminate. The resins they use have high performance in the electrical, thermal, insulation and mechanical fields. Arlon PCB materials are suitable for complex design systems, space, satellites, avionics, medical, radio frequency, semiconductor, industrial, and amplifier are some of the challenging areas that require the use of Arlon PCB materials. There are many types of Arlon PCB materials, such as Arlon 33n, Arlon 45nk, Arlon 85N, Arlon 55NT, etc.
Characteristics of Arlon PCB material
Arlon PCB materials are suitable for advanced PCB design. Its high performance supports high performance and stability. Let us explore each attribute in detail, which will allow us to use Arlon PCB material for design.
Temperature gradient, coefficient of thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity are three important parameters that provide us with information about the thermal management characteristics of any material. Arlon PCB material has high thermal capacity and low coefficient, which will not allow the PCB material to expand as the temperature rises. The risk of hot spots and stratification is small, and the physical stress is low. Using a later version of Arlon PCB material, the Tg can be as high as 250 C, and the CTE of the basic material is 16ppm/C.
Arlon PCB materials must provide good signal integrity, less radiation emission, and matching impedance. This can be achieved by a stable dielectric value (Dk) and a low Df (dissipation factor). Dk is 2.1 to 5.6.Depending on the type of Arlon PCB material selected, the signal transmission speed will also vary.
The moisture absorption rate of Arlon PCB materials is low, because moisture can damage the heat dissipation performance of the PCB. Due to the low moisture absorption rate, Arlon PCB materials are more efficient.
Arlon PCB material has rigidity and strong mechanical strength under vibration stress. Arlon polyimide material has a low shrinkage rate and can provide good stability for the structure under heating and other environmental conditions.
Arlon PCB materials have a variety of product lines: laminate, prepreg, substrate, resin and epoxy resin. All types of materials comply with UL94 grade. UL94 is a safety parameter, and the V-0 level of the UL94 standard causes the combustion to stop within 10 seconds.
Types of PCB Arlon laminates
Arlon LLC is a manufacturer with a 50-year history. It produces various types of Arlon PCB materials. All manufacturers that manufacture Arlon PCBs use materials produced by Arlon LLC. We will learn about the various types of Arlon PCB materials that can be used in a variety of applications in high-speed RF PCBs.
1. Low fluidity polyimide
There are five types of low-flow products with the following characteristics：
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2. Epoxy products
There are only two types of epoxy resin Arlon products, which have the following characteristics：
3. Polyimide products
There are eight different types of polyimide products, and their characteristics are as follows：
4. Control thermal expansion
There are three types of SMT-based Arlon PCB materials：
Advantages of Arlon PCB materials
Before we learned that different Arlon PCB materials have different characteristics from each other. They have additional advantages, so they are highly recommended for advanced complex PCBs. Some other benefits include：
Disadvantages of Arlon PCB material
Arlon PCB material has some disadvantages that limit its use in certain designs, such as：
The future trend of PCB Arlon laminate
With the continuous progress of PCB high-frequency requirements, Arlon PCB is developing new materials, especially suitable for high-frequency and high-density interconnection boards. Designers can take full advantage of the advantages of designing thin and light circuit boards. Arlon PCB materials comply with IPC standards, RoHS, AS9100 and UL. In recent years, people have been paying attention to more environmentally friendly materials to reduce waste during the production phase. FR4 provides flexibility and versatility for simple and complex circuit boards, which makes it difficult for polyimide materials to adapt to similar applications.
Now that we have miniature through holes and smaller components, laser technology requires efficient materials while reducing quality and performance risks. In order to develop and maintain its position as a major market player, Arlon LLC is increasing research investment to adapt to the scale of competition. Electronic engineers and technical project managers should be familiar with and read these market insights and analysis.
Generalization
From this article, we learned why Arlon PCB materials are accepted for high-frequency designs. We should ensure that the manufacturer is carefully selected based on the manufacturer's past work experience in similar arrangements. There should be no small errors in Arlon manufacturing. In addition, make sure to choose the correct copper foil laminate, as it will affect the UV blocking process of Arlon PCB lamination. It is best to communicate a complete list of requirements with the supplier to achieve the maximum performance of the circuit board.