Isola's halogen-free, ultra-low-loss materials serve high-speed digital, RF, and microwave applications

Isola Group, a leader in copper-clad laminates and dielectric prepreg materials used to fabricate advanced multilayer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), released TerraGreen, the company's latest halogen-free, ultra-low loss, RF/microwave/high-speed material. TerraGreen is engineered for such high-performance applications as power amplifier boards for 4G LTE base stations, internet infrastructure and cloud computing. TerraGreen has a full offering of cores and prepreg utilizing spread-glass fabric. The dielectric constant (ranging from 3.00 to 3.45) and dissipation factor (ranging from 0.0030 to 0.0035) remain stable over a wide range of frequencies and temperatures. Core thicknesses from 0.002" to 0.018", 0.020", 0.030" and 0.060" are available. TerraGreen is a lead-free assembly material and is easy to process. This high-performance material utilizes a short-lamination cycle; the product is easy to drill, does not require plasma desmear, and the prepreg shelf life is similar to FR-4 materials. TerraGreen is suitable for high-layer count, high-speed digital, backplanes and is compatible with Isola's FR-4 materials for hybrid designs Tarun Amla, Executive Vice-president and Chief Technology Officer at Isola, stated, "Electronics manufacturers have long-expressed the need for halogen-free, ultra-low loss, lead-free assembly material for high-speed digital and RF/microwave markets. Isola's investments in R&D have successfully resolved this issue with our proprietary TerraGreen resin system." Isola