A: To some extent it depends on which properties are most critical for you. The best antenna material that Arlon offers is its DiClad 880 PIM grade with Er=2.2, loss tangent of 0.0009 at 10 GHz with PIM better than -155 dBc. When you include the question of weight and add low cost as a primary consideration, I would suggest that you seriously consider Arlon's FoamCladR/F 100 product line. The patented FoamCladR/F 100 is a combination of very low dielectric constant foam sandwiched between thin layers of water impervious polymer film. This provides a lightweight, high performance product that also exhibits excellent PIM characteristics. The dielectric constant ranges from 1.15 to 1.35 (depending on thickness) with a loss tangent less than 0.003. FoamCladR/F 100 is available as a single or double sided copper clad laminate in 24" width and lengths from 12" to 120". Single sided copper laminates offer a novel and uncomplicated approach to physically mounting the antennas. The non-copper side is backed by a release layer (film) that can be removed to expose a pressure sensitive adhesive, which can be used to attach the substrate to a metallic backplane. This peel-and-stick method is clean, quick and potentially offers a significant reduction of the manufactured costs of the assembled antenna. New offerings include a base foam thickness of 0.250" and will soon include grades based on 0.1875" for applications where wider bandwidth requires greater thicknesses. For additional information, please contact Arlon technical support by phone at 800-635-9333.
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