mm-Wave Complex Permittivity Extraction of LTCC Substrate Under the Influence of Surface Roughness

As many emerging technologies require the use of high-speed signals, the understanding of dielectric properties of materials used in manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs) is an essential aspect for accurate high-speed circuit designs, especially at millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies. This work demonstrates a methodology for extracting complex relative permittivity of dielectric substrates covering mm-wave frequencies. For this purpose, low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) substrate was measured up to 85 GHz and its complex relative permittivity was extracted. The approach used in this work is based on multiline thru-reflect-line (TRL) calibration for measuring the propagation constant and electromagnetic (EM) simulations to estimate the losses contributed by the conductor while accounting for surface roughness. An estimate of complex relative effective permittivity is obtained, from which the actual relative dielectric constant and the loss tangent of LTCC substrate are extracted. The estimated values for the relative dielectric constant and the loss tangent show an excellent agreement compared with the results obtained via split cavity resonator measurements.