LAMINATES: DK, DF AND TRACE WIDTH

What are the Dk and Df of Rogers RO4350B?

Rogers RO4350B has a dielectric constant (Dk) of 3.48 and a loss factor (Df) of 0.0037 at 10 GHz, as published by its maker. A 50 ohm surface microstrip over a 0.2 mm dielectric comes out about 0.422 mm wide on it, against 0.353 mm on standard FR-4.

  • Dielectric loss on that microstrip is about 0.121 dB per inch at 10 GHz, and the signal travels at about 138 ps per inch.
  • Buried as a stripline between planes 0.4 mm apart, 50 ohms needs a trace about 0.163 mm wide.

50 ohm surface microstrip, 1 oz copper

Dielectric heightTrace width on RO4350BOn standard FR-4
0.1 mm0.200 mm0.166 mm
0.2 mm0.422 mm0.353 mm
0.5 mm1.10 mm0.920 mm
1.6 mm3.58 mm3.02 mm

As published

PropertyValue
SeriesRO4000
Dk @ 10GHz3.48
Df @ 10GHz0.0037
TCDk (ppm/°C)~+50
Thermal Cond. (W/m·K)0.69
Key Application5G sub-6GHz, commercial RF

How this was counted

Dk and Df are the maker's published values at 10 GHz, from the MPBxChange material catalogue, which keeps each source's test frequency and method. Where a maker publishes a range, the midpoint is used. Widths are solved with the Hammerstad and Jensen microstrip equations and Wadell's stripline form, for 1 oz copper, and are a starting point: Dk moves with frequency, resin content and glass style, and a fabricator's field solver is the authority. Standard FR-4 here is the median of 22 FR-4 grades in the catalogue (Dk 4.4).