SBIR Phase I: Low Dielectric Fiber for High Frequency Circuit Board Applications

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will assess the feasibility of using blends of polymers to make high strength, low dielectric fibers to be used as reinforcements with glass fiber in high frequency circuit board substrate materials. The innovation will allow a reduction in the dielectric constant of 42% (from 5.2 to 3.0) and dielectric loss of 80% (from 0.025 to 0.005) in high frequency circuit board substrates when compared to FR-4 circuit board materials. In addition, the density of the board materials will be decreased by 35%, lowering the weight in mobile and transportation applications. While blends of polymer materials are common, those chosen for the proposed research are particularly interesting not only for the proposed application, but also for the technical challenges inherent in the chosen strategy. Specifically, the research proposes to blend miscible polymers, one of which is amorphous and the other semi-crystalline. While the processing temperature ranges overlap, the high shear environment of fiber spinning should provide for interesting science as well as a strong commercial need. If successful, the fibers will provide for a low cost, light weight reinforcement which can provide significant benefit to high frequency circuit board materials in applications ranging from high speed computing to mobile communications.