Question: What is Rogers PCB? There are other circuit boards named the Teflon, RF, and high-frequency PCBs. Can anyone clarify their difference, please help!
To many PCB designers, Rogers is a necessity for high-frequency PCB materials, once they are aware of FR4's poor performance at microwave frequencies. When they quote for PCBs using the Rogers materials, they tell the manufacturing company they want Rogers PCB, and to be more specific, be something like Rogers RO4350B or RO4003C.
What is Rogers PCB? You may ask. No worries. We illustrate Rogers PCB and the difference between the Rogers, Teflon, RF, and high-frequency PCBs below.
What is Rogers PCB?
PCBs using the Rogers laminates are called Rogers PCBs.
Rogers is a company that produces laminate materials used to make PCBs. In most cases, PCBs are made of the material FR4 composite of glass fiber and epoxy resin. Rogers sells FR4 laminates with better high-frequency properties. The core materials that they provide constitute properties of high frequency like Teflon (PTFE).
Rogers offers a wide variety of materials used for high-frequency PCBs with a relative permittivity ranging from 2.3 to 10.2 and low dielectric losses:
- fluoroplastics RT/duroid series (RT500, RT600);
- reinforced fluoroplastics RO3000 and RO4000 series;
- hydrocarbon ceramics TMM;
- reinforced laminates ULTRALAM 2000.
All materials have a standard range of thicknesses and can have one- or two-sided metallization from electrodeposited or rolled foil (copper, brass, aluminum) of a given thickness.
Rogers materials have high parameters (loss tangent, dielectric constant, etc.), and a combination is possible for Rogers material and FR4 in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards.
Rogers PCBs provide the following advantageous characteristics:
- They have a minimum loss of electrical signals during the performance.
- They also have the minimum losses of the dielectric.
- They provide the effective management of thermal functioning.
- They have a considerable range for the values of the dielectric constant.
- They provide the facility of low outgassing that is important for applications in space.
- They also have good control of impedance.
Electrical insulation in Rogers PCBs
The Rogers PCBs have the lamination of ceramic hydrocarbons and a dielectric layer for insulation. This layer acts as a bad conductor for electrical connections and transformations. The oxides of metals and other materials like porcelain and mica act as good insulating materials for this purpose. This use of insulating material enhances the unique characteristics of the material.
This insulating layer helps the PCBs to reduce the loss of signals to a large extent. Moreover, it also helps to maintain the dielectric constant within a certain range. Therefore, Rogers PCBs are available for applications in different fields and industries. They provide essential and unique properties with the best performance at high frequencies.
Difference between Rogers, Teflon & High-Frequency PCBs
To put it first, the RF, microwave, Rogers, and Teflon PCBs all belong to the high-frequency (HF) PCB category range. High-frequency PCBs function in a wide range of frequencies between 500MHz to 10GHz.
Here are the points you want to remember:
RF vs. Microwave
RF and Microwave PCBs are the same single-sided or double-sided PCBs that are made on a fluoroplastic base but with a dielectric constant of less than 3, the smallest tangent of dielectric losses, and high thermal-mechanical stability. Currently, such requirements are met by Rogers Materials.
What is Teflon PCB?
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has widespread use for the synthesis of printed circuit boards. It is a polymer. While Teflon is a trademark name used by DuPont on a range of polymer products. Teflon makes good PTFE materials, and the PCBs that have the composition of this material are known as Teflon PCBs.
Rogers vs. FR4
The following are some of the differences between FR4 materials and Rogers materials.
- Rogers's material is expensive compared to the FR4 material.
- Rogers material can provide the best high frequencies as compared to the FR4 material.
- The signal losses are minimal in the Rogers material. While FR4 material has a greater dissipation factor which means that it has high signal losses.
- Rogers's material is also excellent in the case of stability of the impedance. It has a range of dielectric constants.
- The value of the dielectric constant is smaller for the FR4 material as compared to the Rogers material.
- Rogers material has greater stability in the management of temperature as compared to the FR4 material.
Rogers PCB Pricing: You Don't Want to Miss
Reddit Comment: Weird that most of those online PCB price calculators won't offer a price for the Rogers boards, I have no idea why that is.
The reason is simple. We can't do this as it is super complicated.
Online PCB calculators can only calculate for the simpler boards of 1 to 8 layers. Pricing for higher-performance PCBs can't be calculated by the calculation system, and only when they are read by engineers, can we give an accurate quotation to you.
Unlike most merchandise, the PCB pricing depends on your design and requirements, and they are 100% custom. The online calculators, in fact, only set up the parameter ranges, and different pricing falls in different ranges.
Of course, different Rogers PCBs have different pricing. For example, the RO3000 series is more expensive than the RO4003C. Generally, PCB shops in North America and Western Europe charge a lot more than PCB companies in China. A PCB quotation from the former can be 10 times higher than the latter.
Best Rogers PCB Manufacturer - PCBONLINE
For your best benefit, you can work with a fair PCB manufacturer - PCBONLINE for Rogers PCB and other higher-performance boards. Maybe these two points are the reasons why our prices are slightly higher than other vendors.
1. The most expensive part of high-frequency PCB is the base material. Our warehouse is long stocked with directly imported U.S. Rogers board and other different models, and the storage time is not more than 45 days to ensure the best performance and stability of the board. (We will sell the boards which storage over 45 days at a low price to the traders)
2. As the materials are different from FR-4 and metal, the expansion and contraction coefficients in production are also different. The expansion and contraction control of the Rogers board by our factory belongs to the core technology (patent protection), which is to minimize the expansion and contraction control of the board.
In our warehouse, there are high-quality materials ready to be used for high-frequency boards. You can see how we manufacture PCBs in the video below.
At PCBONLINE, besides the best-quality advanced boards and assembly at a fair price, you can also expect free PCBA samples and functional tests, as well as one-to-one engineering support and design for excellence. Get a quote online for free and earn $100 off coupons now!
