High-frequency PCBA is Getting Hot in China
The short wave frequency that is 300MHZ with a wavelength of one meter or more is known as high frequency. So boards that use this value of frequency are called high-frequency circuits. With the development of 5G and microwave applications, Chinese circuit board manufacturers are keen to make this type of board. In fact, since 2017, China’s PCBA industry has gradually transformed from low-end boards to high-end high-frequency boards, and high-frequency PCBAs printed in China are popular worldwide.
High frequency PCBA is valued in China
Although China’s PCBA industry started late, it became the world’s third-largest PCB manufacturer in 2002 with technological innovation, and completely replaced Japan in 2006. From a data point of view, China’s PCBA boards accounted for 50% of the world’s total exports in 2017. Even if it dominates the export volume, the actual situation is still not optimistic. When we zoom in on the data, we can clearly find that most of China’s exported PCBAs are low-end products, while high-end high-frequency boards and HDI PCBs are monopolized by developed countries in Europe and America. With the discovery of such drawbacks, large-scale foreign trade-oriented PCBA manufacturers headed by FS Technology began to seek a way out. After two years of technological innovation and learning, FS Technology’s high-frequency PCBA manufacturing and assembly capabilities are comparable to those of European and American countries.
Many Chinese PCB suppliers are now trying to find a way to break through the technical barriers of high frequency boards and obtain new innovations and relevant data for the practical application of these boards. Teflon is considered the main material for the creation of different products in the high-end electronic information industry. Some famous companies have chosen high-frequency PCBA boards future of the industry. This decision is clearly correct. China’s high-frequency PCBA market growing very fastly. Electronic product sellers for medical devices, self-driving cars, and high-sensitivity instruments all wholesale PCBAs from China.
In terms of the future deployment of high-frequency PCBA, FS Technology is similar to the future plans of high-frequency boards formulated by multi-layer PCBA manufacturing companies in different countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. We firmly believe that high frequency PCBA will cover 20% of the demand for circuit boards in the entire electronics manufacturing industry.
To spread the new technologies for high-frequency PCBAs many famous European and American high-frequency CCL suppliers Rogers Taconic are entering the China market. GIL company in the USA arranged a lecture on the Application and Manufacturing Technology of High-Frequency PCB” in Shenzhen and many interested people attend this lecture. American CCL and European manufacturing companies are offering more than one hundred types of CCLs having dielectric constants from 2.10, 2.15, 2.17, … up to 4.5 or even higher.
Numerous Chinese manufacturing companies are creating Teflon High-frequency boards in batches. Some companies create thousands of square meters per month. Some famous Chines radar and communication research institutions asking for bulk production of high-frequency boards for years to make their related instruments. A large number of foreign companies that needed high frequency in their products shifted their business to China to get the high-frequency PCB easily. That indicates that high-frequency PCB is getting hot in China.
How high frequency PCBA develops rapidly in China
Some frequency bands were only used for military communication now used by civilians and enhance civilian high-frequency communications. Through the use of high-frequency PCBs cell phones and car phones, wireless communications can be done in a secure way with good quality also television transmission can also be done with quality.
With the development and popularization of 5G PCBA and mmWave PCBA, human beings have higher and higher requirements for signal transmission speed and stability. To transmit, the high volume data through satellite, microwave, and optical fibers used high frequency based devices.
In 2021, the annual output value of China’s game industry will reach a terrifying 400 billion yuan, but sadly, the processing of hard-core technology is still restricted by European and American countries. Due to the limitations of high-frequency PCBA technology, Chinese computer manufacturers cannot enhance the processing power of computer technology and increase storage capacity through high-speed signals, resulting in no 3D commercial engine comparable to Unity and Unreal in China.
All of the above shows that China’s high-frequency PCBA development is imminent, and it is necessary to do everything possible to break through technical barriers. The point that FS Technology wants to express here is that through the stimulation of the domestic market, we have the ability to manufacture high-frequency PCBAs of medium difficulty, and work harder to align with high-end products.
Why wholesale high frequency PCBA from Chinese manufacturers
FS Technology teaches you a famous Chinese saying, “No diamond cutter, don’t try to mend porcelain wares”. We have a clear vision of our capabilities and never commit to business beyond our capabilities. As one of the best high-frequency board manufacturers in China, the high-frequency PCBs sold by FS Technology are highly praised. Here are the advantages we have in making this type of PCBA:
High frequency CCL with low ε (Dk)
The dielectric constant is denoted by ε is the ratio of certain capacitance that indicates the capacitance of the vacuum capacitor that also defines the storage of electrical energy. Too high a DK value means that the board has a strong power storage capacity, which will cause the electronic product to spend more time in the charging and discharging process, and the final result will lose the advantage of the signal transmission rate. For some electronic products, fast signal is their main selling point, obviously the common circuit board with high DK makes it unable to compete with the same type of products. Wholesale high-frequency PCBs from FS Technology for finished manufacturers’ electronic products, which can achieve fast charging and discharging process, make the signal transmission speed increase, and ultimately beat other electronic products of the same type.
Materials used in high frequency PCBs in China
The most used substrate materials in China’s high frequency PCBA market are: Rogers, FR4, and Teflon. Here, FS Technology performs some simple material analysis.
Rogers: Rogers PCBA is a commonly recommended circuit board, it contains a variety of types to meet almost any project needs. Rogers high frequency boards are admired by many designers for their lower ε and tan δ. There are pros and cons to everything, and if you choose this substrate material to build your project, you will face high production costs.
Teflon: Teflon has 5 GHz frequency values and has good values of Dk, losses and water absorption normally has high prices than FR4 and Rogers. For projects where a frequency value of over ten GHz is working use Teflon.
FR4: In theory, FR-4 PCBA can meet the needs of electronic projects with frequencies from 1 GHz to 10 GHz, but FS Technology does not recommend FR4 as a material for high frequency projects. From past experience, ordinary FR4 has obvious defects, and Chinese designers usually use special modified materials to manufacture FR4 high-frequency PCBAs.
Basic Capabilities of Chinese High Frequency PCBA Manufacturers
There is a need for a certain level of impedance for high-frequency signal transmission with that trace width tolerance of high-frequency PCB normally has ±0.02mm (or ±0.015mm value. So PCB etching procedure demands regulation of the high level and compensation based on line width and copper foil thickness. The trace of high-frequency boards transmits the electric pulse signal, not the current. Faults like pits notches pinholes existing on wires can have an effect on transmission, and try to avoid these faults.
Solder masks also have a controlled value of thickness. If solder resist has a high thickness or low board will not be selected for projects. The warpage of finished high-frequency boards has a value of 0.5 to 0.7%.
Available areas of high frequency PCBs made in China
- Satellite
- Antennas
- Microwave transmission system
- Car phones
- GPS
- Satellite communication
- Ic test devices
- Oscilloscopes
- High transmission quality
- High frequency communication