Effective electromagnetic shielding of plastic packaging in low-cost optical transceiver modules

A low-cost plastic package of the standard 1 x 9 type with effective electromagnetic (EM) shielding ability is developed. Optical transceiver modules with transmission rates of 155 Mb/s and 1.25 Gb/s are tested to evaluate the EM shielding against emitted radiation from the plastic packaging. The results show that the packaged optical transceiver modules exhibit shielding effectiveness (SE) of over 20 dB. The EM shielding properties of plastic materials consisting of nylon66 and liquid crystal polymer (LCP) with carbon fiber reinforced are investigated. The effects of weight percentage of fibers, carbon fiber length, and material thickness on the SE of the plastic composites are studied both from the plane-wave and near-field sources approaches. The packaged plastic optical transceiver modules with their good SE are suitable for use in low-cost and low electromagnetic interference (EMI) Gigabit Ethernet lightwave transmission systems.