RF-30A RF & Microwave PCB Manufacturing

Highleap Electronics provides RF-30A PCB manufacturing and assembly for antenna, RF passive and microwave circuit designs, with controlled-impedance and PTFE PCB fabrication support.

What Is RF-30A?

RF-30A is an RF and microwave laminate currently offered by AGC. It uses an organic-ceramic material system with woven-glass reinforcement and is intended for circuit applications where dielectric behavior, transmission loss, dimensional control, and RF performance are important design considerations.

Material Overview

  • Current Brand: AGC
  • Product: RF-30A
  • RF / Microwave Laminate
  • Woven-Glass Reinforcement
  • Typical Dk: 2.97 ± 0.05
  • Df @ 10 GHz: 0.0020
  • Thermal Conductivity: 0.42 W/m·K
  • IPC Slash Sheet: 4103A/230

PCB-Relevant Properties

  • Low Dielectric Loss
  • Controlled Dielectric Constant
  • Low Z-Axis CTE
  • Woven-Glass Reinforcement
  • Low Moisture Sensitivity
  • RF Transmission-Line Support
  • Suitable for Plated-Through-Hole PCBs
  • Multiple Laminate Thickness Options

RF Design Focus

  • Controlled-Impedance Lines
  • Microstrip RF Circuits
  • RF Ground Structures
  • Passive Intermodulation Considerations
  • RF Connector Transitions
  • Low-Profile Copper Constructions
  • Antenna Feed Networks
  • Microwave Passive Circuits

Applications Areas

  • Base-Station Antenna PCBs
  • RF Antenna Subassemblies
  • RF Power Amplifier PCBs
  • RF Filters
  • Power Dividers & Splitters
  • RF Combiners
  • Couplers & Passive Networks
  • Commercial Microwave Equipment

RF-30A Technical Properties for PCB Engineering

The following selected properties provide a practical reference for RF-30A PCB stack-up planning and fabrication review. Material values describe the laminate itself and should not be interpreted as guaranteed electrical performance of a finished PCB.

Property Typical Value Unit Test Method / Condition
Dielectric Constant (Dk) 2.97 ± 0.05 — 1.9 GHz
Dissipation Factor (Df) 0.0013 — 1.9 GHz
Dissipation Factor (Df) 0.0020 — 10 GHz
Thermal Conductivity 0.42 W/m·K IPC-650 2.4.50
CTE – X Axis 8 ppm/°C 50–150°C
CTE – Y Axis 11 ppm/°C 50–150°C
CTE – Z Axis 60 ppm/°C 50–150°C
Volume Resistivity 3.0 × 109 MΩ·cm IPC-650 2.5.17.1
Surface Resistivity 2.0 × 108 MΩ IPC-650 2.5.17.1
Density 2.16 g/cm³ IPC-TM-650 2.3.5

Remarks

  1. The values above are typical laminate reference data and may vary with material construction, copper configuration, processing conditions, and test method.
  2. Current AGC documentation lists RF-30A as the applicable product designation. Material availability, thicknesses, copper options, and specification limits should be confirmed using the latest documentation from AGC.
  3. Material-property values should not be interpreted as guaranteed RF, impedance, insertion-loss, or PIM performance of a finished PCB or electronic assembly.
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RF-30A PCB Fabrication Considerations

RF-30A PCB manufacturing requires process controls that differ from conventional epoxy-based circuit boards. The PTFE-containing material system, woven-glass reinforcement, RF copper geometry, plated-hole requirements, and dimensional behavior all need to be considered when developing the fabrication route.

  • Dimensional control: Panel handling, copper distribution, laminate thickness, and artwork compensation should be considered when tight RF registration is required.
  • Drilling: Drill condition, feed, speed, stack height, and fiberglass structure can influence hole-wall quality and finished plated-hole dimensions.
  • Hole-wall preparation: PTFE-containing drilled surfaces require an appropriate preparation process before metallization and copper plating.
  • Multilayer bonding: Registration and the condition of the bonding surface should be reviewed when RF-30A is incorporated into multilayer or hybrid PCB constructions.
  • Copper and RF geometry: Finished copper thickness, conductor profile, dielectric spacing, line width, ground structure, and transitions should be evaluated together for controlled-impedance RF circuits.
  • Surface finish and solder mask: The selected finish and solder-mask construction should be considered in relation to exposed RF features and the electrical requirements of the circuit.

Highleap Electronics develops the PCB production route from the released Gerber data, material callout, stack-up, impedance requirements, drilling information, and mechanical drawing rather than applying one generic process to every RF-30A design.