Large amounts of bandwidth will be needed for transferring the huge volumes of data projected to be part of 5G wireless networks, and millimeter-wave frequencies offer the amounts of bandwidth needed. Of course, to make use of that bandwidth at frequencies such as 60 GHz, practical circuits including transceivers, antennas, and amplifiers must be designed and implemented, and the foundation of those circuits is the printed-circuit-board (PCB) material. For effective use at millimeter-wave frequencies, a PCB material must fulfill a set of requirements that can be unique to that frequency range (above about 30 GHz). Fortunately, the latest high-frequency circuit material from Rogers Corp., CLTE-MW laminates, features the characteristics uniquely suited to millimeter-wave applications.
CLTE-MW circuit materials are based on low-loss polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), loaded with ceramic filler and reinforced with spread glass fabric. Offered in thicknesses of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 mils, CLTE-MW materials are well suited for circuits requiring thin laminates, such as millimeter-wave circuits with extremely short signal wavelengths that require tightly controlled dielectric constant and signal-to-ground spacing.