Items Tagged with 'HighSpeed'

In the high-speed connector design arena, there are two opposing ideas. For some people, if you simply put pieces of plastic and metal together, eventually you have a signal transmission. This process is very simple. On the other end of the spectrum, there is the idea that a solid connector design requires a deep understanding of electromagnetic theory, a wisdom only sorcerers and wizards possess.

Engineers invest tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in signal integrity simulation software—the goal being to gain an accurate understanding of how signals are going to behave in the final product. But how do you do that early in the design process without reliable, verifiable electrical properties for the dielectrics incorporated into your design?

What is special about a material like PTFE that gives it such a low Dk and Df, while an epoxy has such a high Dk and Df? It is all about the chemical structure of the molecules and how they interact. Understanding the connection between chemistry and electrical properties is the starting place to engineer optimized materials for high-speed interconnects.