High electromagnetic shielding of plastic package for 2.5-Gb/s optical transceiver modules

A lightweight, low-cost plastic package for a 2.5-Gb/s optical transceiver module, that also has good electromagnetic shielding properties, has been fabricated using woven continuous carbon fiber (CCF) epoxy composite. The shielding effectiveness (SE) of the CCF epoxy composite has been modeled theoretically and measured from 500 MHz to 3 GHz; using the ASTM D4935 and a near-field test method. Two types of weaving patterns were studied: a balanced twill structure (BTS) and a parallel structure. The BTS was able to achieve an SE of about 80 dB under plane wave conditions and about 50 dB under near-field conditions because of the numerous conductive between crossing fibers. The SE of the proposed package is at least 20 dB greater than the previous package which used a liquid crystal polymer composite. In addition to better shielding performance, the proposed package costs less because it uses less carbon fiber. The proposed package for an optical transceiver is suitable for use in a low-cost lightwave transmission system.