Graphene Based Composite EMI Shielding for RF Device Protection

The primary objective of this SBIR project is to develop a graphene-based composite electro-magnetic interference (EMI) shielding material capable of replacing metal shielding in Integrated Circuit (IC) packages and printed circuit board components.  Typical shielding materials are made from metal foils, braids, films and enclosures.  Aluminum, copper, steel and silver are frequently used.  Though designed to provide a high shielding effectiveness, the most effective shielding materials can lack in mechanical robustness/flexibility, environmental stability (corrosion), can add more weight than is desired and are not adaptable to new form factors.  For any shielding or absorbing material, attenuation by EM absorption principally depends on the conductivity, permitivity and permeability of the material.  Interest in all-carbon shielding materials has increased in large part due to the intrinsic properties of graphene, graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide.  The properties of graphene can lower the density of the shielding material but also increase EM absorption via plasmonic oscillations with the sheets' carbon lattices.  The interfaces and functionalities may then act as dielectrics to improve absorption loss and facilitate reflection loss for increased shielding effectiveness.  Vorbeck is in a strong position to exploit the inherent tailorability of functionalized graphene, which is manufactured by Vorbeck, to optimize EMI shielding.  Vorbeck will develop a shielding material using graphene based inks by two paths: (1) we will improve and optimize Vorbeck's composite coatings for the X and Ku bands; and (2) we will use our fundamental understanding of the properties of graphene sheets to develop a new line of coatings utilizing almost pure graphene.