FR-4, as a commonly used PCB board material, has the following advantages and disadvantages:
advantage
-Excellent electrical performance: high insulation resistance, effectively preventing current leakage and electromagnetic interference, ensuring circuit stability and safety. The dielectric constant is relatively stable, with small fluctuations within a certain frequency range and high signal transmission quality, making it suitable for various electronic devices
-Good mechanical performance: high strength and hardness, able to withstand certain pressure and impact forces, and not easily deformed. It can serve as a reliable structural support material in electronic devices, such as computer motherboards
-Excellent processing performance: easy to drill, cut, bend and other processing operations, capable of achieving complex multi-layer board structures, high manufacturing accuracy, meeting the needs of circuit boards of different sizes and shapes, and low cost, suitable for large-scale production
-Good heat resistance: The glass transition temperature is generally between 130 ℃ and 180 ℃, which can maintain stable structure and performance within this temperature range, and can adapt to the operating temperature of most conventional electronic devices
-Excellent flame retardant performance: Contains flame retardant and meets relevant flame retardant standards, such as UL94V-0 level. When encountering a fire source, it can prevent the spread of flames, reduce the risk of fire, and improve the safety of electronic devices
-Strong dimensional stability: Low coefficient of thermal expansion, small dimensional changes under different temperature environments, can ensure the stability of solder joints and connection parts of electronic components on the circuit board, and reduce circuit failures caused by dimensional changes
shortcoming
-Large dielectric constant drift: In high-frequency circuits, the dielectric constant varies with factors such as the length, width, thickness, and frequency of the circuit board, resulting in unstable signal transmission speed and impedance, affecting the integrity of high-frequency signals. It is not suitable for high-frequency and high-speed circuit designs that require extremely high signal accuracy
-Strong moisture absorption: The moisture absorption rate can reach nearly 50%. Moisture absorption can affect electrical performance, such as reduced insulation resistance and changes in dielectric constant. When used in humid environments, moisture-proof measures should be taken, such as coating with moisture-proof paint
-Poor heat dissipation performance: Low thermal conductivity, with a thermal conductivity of only 0.8-1.1 W/mK, slow heat dissipation, and difficulty in dissipating the heat generated by electronic components in a timely manner, which can easily form hotspots and cause local temperatures to be too high, affecting component performance and lifespan. High power electronic devices need to increase heat dissipation structures or adopt heat dissipation measures
-Performance is limited in high temperature and high humidity environments: In special high temperature and high humidity environments, its flame retardancy, mechanical properties, etc. will decrease. Electronic devices that are exposed to this environment for a long time need to use materials that are more resistant to high temperature and humidity or undergo special treatment on FR-4
