Types of PCB Laminate materials

Laminate Board Type Details

Most common; good performance across all
Common across the
FR-4 characteristics; good strength-to-weight ratio
board
reliable.
High-
Best for multilayer Increased Tg for better reliability; suitable for
Performance
PCBs high-frequency circuits.
FR-4
High Tg Best for multilayer Tolerates higher heat; increase heat,
Epoxy PCBs moisture, and chemical resistance.
Maintains high bond strength at high
Lead-free PCBs;
BT Epoxy temperatures; outstanding thermal,
multilayer PCBs
mechanical, and electrical properties.
Ideal for advanced applications (ex. military);
High density, flexible,
extreme environmental stability; high levels
Polyimide rigid-flex, multilayer
of thermal, chemical, and mechanical
PCBs
properties.
High Frequency Used for low loss communication
Teflon
Applications applications.
Perform well based on performance
Copper Clad requirements with appearance, size,
High-voltage circuits
(CCL) electrical, physical, chemical, and
environmental performance.

1. FR-4 epoxy laminate: Flame Retardant or FR-4 is the most popular PCB
substrate material in the world. It is a glass reinforced epoxy laminate sheet.
The epoxy used is flame retardant and water resistant. It provides good
strength to weight ratios. The tensile strength offered by this material is very
high. The denotation ‘FR-4’ describes a class of materials that meet certain
requirements defined by NEMA LI 1-1998 standards. FR4 materials have
good thermal, electrical, and mechanical characteristics, as well as a
favourable strength-to-weight ratio that makes them ideal for most electronic
applications. FR4 laminates are made from glass cloth, epoxy resin, and are
usually the lowest cost PCB material available. It is especially popular for
PCBs with lower layer counts – single, double sided into multi-layered
constructions generally less than 14 layers. Additionally, the base epoxy resin
can be blended with additives that can significantly improve its thermal
performance, electrical performance, and UL flame survival/rating – greatly
improving its ability to be used in higher layer count builds, higher thermal
stress applications, and greater electrical performance at a lower cost for high
 speed circuit designs. FR4 laminates are very versatile, adaptable with widely
accepted manufacturing techniques with predictable yields.
2. High-Performance FR-4 You would use a high-performance FR-4 laminate
when dealing with multi-layered PCBs. It has a high-reliability level due to the
increased TG and is more suitable for high-frequency circuits because of its
low dielectric properties.
3. High Tg Epoxy For multilayer PCBs, the High Tg Epoxy is most suitable. The
Tg is the vitrification temperature, similar to the melting point. The higher the
number, the more rigid the board will be. A material with a high TG (over 170o
C) has better heat, moisture, and chemical resistance, as well as better
stability.
4. BT Epoxy Most suitable for lead-free PCBs, the BT Epoxy laminate is known
for having outstanding thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties. This
laminate is commonly used for multilayer PCBs. It will also maintain bond
strength at high temperatures.
5. Polyimide laminates: Polyimide laminates offer higher temperature
performance than FR4 materials as well as a slight improvement in electrical
performance properties. Polyimides materials cost more than FR4 but offer
improved survivability in harsh and higher temperature environments. They
also are more stable during thermal cycling, with less expansion
characteristics, making them suitable for higher layer count constructions. A
polyimide laminate is ideal for advanced applications, including military,
aerospace, automotive, and consumer electronics.
6. PTFE (Poly Tetra Fluro Ethylene commercially known as Teflon)- The
PTFE is a kind of plastic material that does not provide any resistance, thus is
used for high speed high frequency applications. PTFE is extremely flexible,
making it invaluable in applications with tight tolerances. It is also extremely
lightweight, allowing it to be used across various industries. It is also flame
resistant, exhibits high physical strength, provides temperature stability, and is
versatile in application. Teflon laminates and bonding materials offer excellent
electrical properties, making them ideal for high speed circuitry applications.
Teflon materials are more expensive but provide designers with the high-
speed capabilities that they need. Manufacturing Teflon PCBs often requires a
 uniquely skilled workforce, specialized equipment and processing and an
anticipation of lower manufacturing yields.
7. Flexible laminates: Flexible laminates are thin and provide the ability to fold
the electronic design, without losing electrical continuity. They do not have
glass fabric for support but are built on plastic film. They are equally effective
folded into a device, as they are in dynamic flex, where the circuits will be
folded continuously for the life of the device. Flexible laminates can be made
from higher temperature materials like polyimide and LCP (liquid crystal
polymer), or very low-cost materials such as polyester and PEN. Because the
flexible laminates are so thin, manufacturing flexible circuits also can require a
uniquely skilled workforce, specialized equipment and processing and an
anticipation of lower manufacturing yields.
8. Copper Clad (CCL) The Copper Clad laminate is made up of a glass fiber or
wood pulp paper as the reinforcing material. You would typically use a CCL
laminate for high-voltage circuits based on specific aspects, including
appearance, size, electrical, physical, chemical, and environmental
performance.
9. Phenolic paper is a material often used to make printed circuit
board substrates (the flat board to which the components and traces are
attached). The characteristics of Paper Phenolic Copper Clad Laminate are
cheap, low in relative density and suitable for punching process. It is generally
used in home appliances, IT peripheral products and related electronic
communication products, such as computer, telephone, LCD TV, keyboard,
mouse, monitor, CD-ROM drive, etc. It is a very tough board made of wood
fibre and phenolic polymers. It is most commonly brown in colour, and is a
fibre reinforced plastic. These PCB materials are known as FR-1 and FR-2.
FR-2 is rated to 130 °C, FR-1 is rated to 105 °C. It’s a laminated combination
of an insulating substrate with a conductive copper cladding on one or both
sides. It can be made different materials (more on this later) which act as the
mechanical base for the resultant copper tracks (traces) which are the
interconnections between the various circuit components.
10. Others: There are many other laminates and bonding materials on the
marketplace including cyanate ester, ceramics, and blended systems that
combine resins to get distinct electrical and/or mechanical performance
 characteristics. Because the volumes are so much lower than FR4, and the
manufacturing can be much more difficult, they are usually considered
expensive alternatives for PCB designs.
Advantages of PCB over Bread-board

1. You can get a much higher density board with PCB.

2. You will find the PCB design to be more reliable than the one made on a bread
board. The circuit will look neat without any wires popped up and will not fall
apart.

3. You can have very precise control over the circuit component you are using, and
you can comfortably fit in odd shaped components that are difficult to fix on a
bread board.

4. For production of large volume of circuit boards, the costs become less and the
soldering can be done by fully automated machines.