Review Article

An Overview on the Ceramics & Polymers for Microwave Propagation

Surendra Kumar, 1 Dr. Pallavi Gupta, 2

1Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sharda University Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh- 201310, India.
2Professor(ECE), Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh-
201310, India.

Abstract
Microwave propagation in materials depends on the electromagnetic properties of a medium. The complex permittivity is a
measure of the ability of a dielectric to absorb and to store electrical potential energy. The loss tangent, tanδ, is indicative of
the ability of the material to convert absorbed energy into heat and hence limited propagation. Ceramics have excellent
dielectric, magnetic, thermal and mechanical properties. The brittleness and high processing temperature of ceramics lead to
the difficulty in fabrication of complex shapes. Many of the polymers satisfy the criteria of low relative permittivity (εr) and
low dielectric loss required for high frequency applications. The major disadvantages of the polymers are their high value of
the coefficient of thermal expansion inferior magnetic properties, tensile strength and thermal conductivity. This review
paper will discuss some of the important electrical and mechanical properties of ceramics and polymers wrt to microwave
propagation.

1. Introduction
sinusoidally in both z and t. The number of complete
It is widely recognised that ceramics are extremely valuable
cycles in a second is the frequency, f, and the distance
materials for applications with demanding mechanical and
that the wave travels in a complete cycle is the
thermal requirements. Despite the fact that ceramic often wavelength, λg. Hence, the frequency and the wavelength
present brittle behaviour, Ceramics have been developed to specify how a wave behaves in time and in distance.
achieve quasi-ductile fracture behaviour and maintain all
other advantages at high temperatures. For instance,
ceramics can be fabricated as strong as metals, but they are
much lighter and can withstand much higher temperatures.
These advantages led to their application in automotive and
Aerospace engineering components and aircraft engine
plat-forms etc
On the opposite side, there are many ceramic products in
construction industry, like floor, wall and roofing tiles,
cement, or bricks, but the level of sophistication of these Figure: 1- Propagation of a wave [1]
products are still low. The Microwave propagation in these If Ex is the electric filed in x direction then the well
materials depends on the dielectric and the magnetic known wave equation gives the following relation [1],
properties of the medium. The electromagnetic properties
(1)
of a medium are characterized by complex permittivity and
complex permeability (μ), where [1]:
Where, the attenuation constant α is [1]

The real component of the complex permittivity is
commonly referred to as the dielectric constant.
It is not constant but can vary significantly with frequency
and temperature. It will be referred to simply as the
permittivity. The imaginary component of complex
permittivity is the dielectric loss factor. Similarly, the real
and imaginary components of the complex permeability, μ'
and μ'', are the permeability and magnetic loss factor,
respectively. In wave propagation, if z is the direction of
wave propagation and t is the time, the amplitude of the
electric field and that of the magnetic field vary
Equation 1 indicates that the amplitude of the wave
decreases exponentially as it propagates i.e., wave
energy is dissipated during the propagation.
The complex permittivity is a measure of the ability of a
dielectric to absorb and to store electrical potential
energy, with the real permittivity, characterizing the
penetration of microwaves into the material, and the loss
factor, indicating the material's ability to store the
energy. The loss tangent, tanδ, is indicative of the ability
1
of the material to convert absorbed energy into heat. For candidates for this category of dielectrics with ultra high
optimum Q and low εr.
coupling, a balanced combination of moderate to permit The dielectric constant of quartz is 3.8, while that of
adequate penetration and high loss (maximum and tanδ) sapphire is 9.4. The dielectric constant of barium
are required. titanate, a ferroelectric material, is as high as 4,000 to
The loss tangent characterizes the ability of the material to 5,000 [2].
convert absorbed microwave power into heat with Alumina is a well-known ceramic packaging material.
absorption depending on electric field intensity, frequency, Powder purity is an important factor in the production
loss factor, and permittivity. A "lossy" material (high tanδ of low-loss alumina. In polycrystalline alumina, the
and ) heats more effectively than a low-loss (low tanδ presence of a very small amount of TiO2 considerably
improved the quality factor [2]. It was found [2] that
and ) material. addition of 0.5 wt% TiO2 lowers the sintering
temperature to about 1500 oC with a considerable
Material Frequency Dielectric tan δ increase in the quality factor up to 50,300 at 9 GHz
(GHz) constant which is close to that of single-crystal sapphire. A Qf of
Beef 2.45 4.4 0.12 680,000 GHz with εr = 10.05 and τf = −60 ppm/oC was
obtained in alumina ceramics sintered at 1550 to 1650
Alumina 3.6-3.8 9.02 0.00076 oC for 5 h [3].Huang et al. [3, 4] found that the use of
Boron 8.52 4.37 0.00300 nano particle sized starting material significantly
Nitride improved the densification and microwave dielectric
Si3N4 8.52 5.54 0.00360 properties of alumina. The εr of 10, Q f value of
Polyester 8.5 3.12 0.0028 521,000 (at 14 GHz) and τf of −48.9 ppm/K were
Teflon 2.43 2.02 0.00042 reported for α-Al2O3 ceramics without a sintering aid at
1550 oC for 4 h [3]. A sample containing 8 wt% of
Epoxy 1.0 3 0.015
nano-TiO2 sintered at 1350 oC for 4 hours harder = 10
Table 1: Brief overview of ceramics reported in the = 1.3 ppm/K [4].Forsterite ceramics Ohsato and co-
literature [1]. workers [5-6] reported forsterite (Mg2SiO4) as a high Q
material for millimetre wave communication as well as
The dielectric constant and tangent loss properties for the a substrate for the MICs.
some of the materials are reported in Table: 1 Tsunooka et al. [5] reported that high-Q plain forsterite
ceramics with QF = 240,000 GHz were developed by
2. Ceramics for Microwave Propagation the usual solid sintering process using highly purified
MgO and SiO2 as raw materials. The composition
Ceramics are one of the most promising structural
prepared with an addition of 1 wt.% of TiO2 exhibited a
materials due to its superior thermal and mechanical
high Q. value = 230,000 GHz with εr = 7.0. Latter on
properties, such as high chemical and thermal stability,
the Qf of forsterite (Mg2SiO4) has been reported as
good chemical inertness, high thermal conductivity, high
270,000 GHz with εf = 6.8, τf = −67 ppm/K by Ohsato
hardness, low density, and low coefficient of thermal
et al. [7].
expansion. These Materials are diverse, including metal-
like materials, ceramics, polymers, glass, rubber, and
chemicals. Ceramics have excellent microwave dielectric,
magnetic, thermal and mechanical properties. However; Dielectric Constant
35
33 32
▪ The production cost of the ceramics is high. 30
▪ The brittleness and high processing temperature of 25
ceramics lead to the difficulty in fabrication of 20
complex shapes or machining substrates during
circuit fabrication. 15
12
10 9.6 9 9.5 9
7 5.8 5.6 6
2.1 Dielectric constant & Dielectric loss 5 4.8 4.5
(Quality factor) 0
SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride

Wireless communications have been tremendously

developed in the recent ubiquitous age. The utilizable
frequency range has been extended to millimetre waves
because of a shortage of the conventional frequencies
region. For ultra high frequencies of millimetre waves and
substrate applications, dielectrics with an ultra high
quality factor Q and low dielectric constant are desired. Figure 2: Dielectric Constant of ceramics [8]
Alumina, Forsterite, Sapphire and Mullite are some of the

2
Dielectric loss is also known as tangent loss of the by a sharp diamond pressed strongly onto a material
materials. Dielectric loss quantifies a dielectric material's specimen. The hardness of alumina ceramics is nearly
inherent dissipation of electromagnetic energy. It can be three times that of stainless steel; silicon carbide is more
parameterized in terms of either the loss angle δ or the than four times harder than stainless steel. This extreme
corresponding loss tangent tan δ. One of the important hardness is one of many unique properties that make
characteristics required for a dielectric material is a high Fine Ceramics "super materials" for modern technology.
quality factor Q (> 1,000 GHz) which is the inverse of the The hardness of Fine Ceramics is generally indicated
dielectric loss, tanδ. The quality factor is determined by using a Vickers hardness number. The method for
the ratio of resonant frequency (f0) to the bandwidth, ∆f0, measuring the hardness of Fine Ceramics is defined in
measured at 3db below the maximum height at resonance. JIS R 1610 (ISO 14705: 2000).
Fig 3 shows the comparative data for tangent loss of the
various ceramics. Low loss ceramics area extensively used Vickers hardness is a resistance value obtained by
in microwave applications. pressing a diamond indenter onto a test specimen.
Extreme hardness is the primary feature that endows
Dielectric Loss Ceramics with their superior wear resistance. This has
1.00000 led to the use of Fine Ceramics in a wide range of
applications, including pump components, cutting tools,
0.10000 seal rings, bearings and a multitude of wear-resistant
components for industrial equipment.
0.01000
0.00100 Ceramics possess high rigidity, which is measured by
inspecting the elasticity of a specimen after applying a
0.00010 load. Materials that display less elastic deformation
under load possess higher levels of rigidity. The
0.00001 coefficient of extension with respect to a load is called
SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride

Young's modulus. Using Young's modulus to measure

rigidity, alumina and silicon carbide display nearly
double the values of stainless steel. Why is high rigidity
advantageous? It allows ceramic components to be
manufactured to much higher levels of precision with
regard to size and shape. In some cases, large mechanical
Figure 3: Tangent loss of ceramics [8] stresses are generated on a material while it is being
Wireless communications have been tremendously ground to final specifications. The less deformation that
developed in the recent ubiquitous age. The utilizable occurs during this process, the more precisely the parts
frequency range has been extended to millimetre waves
can be processed. Rigidity, also known as "stiffness," is
because of a shortage of the conventional frequencies generally measured using Young's modulus. It can be
region. For ultra high frequencies of millimetre waves and defined as the "force necessary to bend a material to a
substrate applications, dielectrics with a ultra high quality given degree."
factor Q and low dielectric constant are desired. Alumina,
forsterite are some of the candidates for this category of
dielectrics with ultra high Q and low εr. Hardness (wear resistance in Gpa
30 7
Recently, as the number of base stations for 25 6
telecommunications is increasing rapidly, the resonator is 20 5
expected to reduce the size for installation and 4
15 3
maintenance. So, new materials with medium-to-high 10 2
permittivity are expected for miniaturization of resonators. 5 1
Zirconia and BaO-TiO2 system is also widely used in 0 0
SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride

microwave applications. The typical phases BaTi4O9 and

Ba2Ti9O20 are commonly sintered at about 1250 and 1300
oC, and εr and QF are close to 36 and 50,000 [2]

2.2 Hardness, Specific Gravity & Stiffness

The signature feature of Ceramics is their extreme

hardness; as a result, they have valuable use in high- Figure 4: Hardness and Specific Gravity of ceramics [8]
performance applications, such as industrial cutting tools
for milling and grinding metals. A material's hardness is As shown in the Fig: 5, ceramics are highly rigid
determined by measuring the size of an indentation made materials, according to Young's modulus. This makes

3
their machining accuracy high enough to enable them to be
used for high-precision parts. Thermal Conductivity (W/m*k)
250
.
200 200
Stiffness (Young’s modulus) in Mpa
500 150 150
450 470
440 440
400 100
350 360
300 320 300 41 32
50 27 30
250 14 5 17 5 4 3 2
200 210 200 0
150 160

SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride
100 150 140 120
50
0 0
SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride
Figure 6: Thermal conductivity of Ceramics [8]

Ceramic substrates are the preferred substrate for most

thick-film applications due to dimension stability and
Figure 5: Stiffness of Ceramics [8]
inertness at typical thick-film firing temperatures. They
have high electrical resistivity in the order of 1013 Ω-cm
Density refers to a material's mass per cubic centimetre,
and dielectric breakdown voltages in excess of 500
while specific gravity refers to the density ratio between a
V/mil, making them ideal for high-voltage circuitry.
given material and water, where water is assigned a value
Among the various commercially available substrate
of 1. Many Fine Ceramic materials have specific gravities materials, alumina has become the most widely used one
less than half those of ferrous metals. A comparison of the because it combines electrical, mechanical and
weights of equal volumes of a given liquid and water. economical advantages. However, alumina in its pure
Water has a specific gravity of 1.0. Ceramic slurry with a form has a very high sintering temperature above
specific gravity of 1.8 is thus 1.8 times heavier than water 1700oC. Berylia possess a high thermal conductivity
Fine ceramics are lighter than high-strength metals, and value (an order of magnitude higher than alumina). The
weigh roughly 50% of metals having the same volume. combination of high strength and thermal conductivity
give BeO a good thermal shock resistance. The CTE
As an example, Specific gravity is very important in the value is slightly higher than alumina and relative
production of casting slips where low-as-possible (or, more permittivity is slightly lower. The disadvantages with
accurately, low-as-practical) water content is needed. Berylia are the high cost and potential toxicity problem
Hobbyists and potters typically target around 1.75 whereas associated with its use. The high thermal conductivity of
in industry 1.8 or higher is needed (especially in sanitary AlN can also be utilized for substrate applications.
ware). This is achieved using the deflocculation process.
When slurries are not behaving normally (e.g. settling, Most ironically and covalently bonded materials exhibit
gelling, casting too slowly or unevenly, not draining from very low conductivities (electrical and thermal). This is a
the mold properly, not releasing) the first step in isolating result of the large band gap between the valence and
the reason is a specific gravity measurement. That tells the conduction bands. Covalently bonded solids tend to have
technician if the issue is with the percentage of water or
higher thermal conductivities than ironically bonded
deflocculant.
solids. Insulating materials with high thermal on
ductility are useful, however, for electronic applications
2.3 Thermal Conductivity where they are used to conduct heat away from
Materials for electronic packaging require high thermal components with high heat dissipation requirements.
conductivity in order to dissipate the heat generated in the Adamantine materials (diamond-like) have thermal
device during operation. The effective thermal conductivity conductivities comparable to those of fcc metals.
of a ceramics is strongly affected by its composition, Thermal waves can be used to measure k, e.g. by
structure, intrinsic thermal conductivities, and particle size, irradiating a sample with a laser pulse and observing the
shape and interfacial thermal resistance. change in temperature on the other side.

Ceramics are increasingly used in packages and printed

circuit boards, because they have a number of
advantages over plastics: much higher thermal
conductivity, possible match of the coefficient of

4
thermal expansion, and hermetic sealing. Unfortunately, Coefficient of thermal expansion (X10e-
the cost of ceramics is still much higher than that of 6/degC)
plastics, prohibiting their use in low-cost high-volume
14
products. Nevertheless, their use in future products seems 11.9 12
unavoidable, given the trends in the semiconductor 10.5
9.7 10
industries regarding the expected much lower thermal
7.7 7.2 7.4 7.2 7.7 8
resistances of the packages and the concurrent design of
6
packages and boards to facilitate heat spreading. 4.6 5
3.7 4
2.8 2
The problem with the thermal conductivity of ceramics is
0.1 0
the dependence on the composition, grain size, and

SiC
Aluminum Nitride
Sapphire
Alumina
Silicon Nitride
Cermet
Yttria
Mullite
Forsterite
Cordierite
Zirconia
Steatite
Boron Nitride
manufacturing process, which make it rather difficult to
obtain a reliable value from literature only. Looking at the
values quoted in various handbooks, papers and data
sheets, two things are observed. 1) large variations exist,
and 2) many authors seem to copy values from the same,
but untraceable sources.
Figure 7: Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Ceramics [8]

An intriguing example is Aluminium Nitride (AIN), an

increasingly popular ceramic. The value most often quoted
is around 180 W/mK. The highest value found at room
temperature is 200 W/mK; the lowest is 80 W/mK.
Furthermore, these values drop by more than 30% going
from 20° to 100° C. The same drop, by the way, is
observed for other ceramics such as BeO and Al203 [9].
Silicon carbide is a compound of silicon and carbon with
chemical formula SiC. In terms of thermal behaviour and
electrical conductivity, Parchoviansky´ et al. [25] studied
the influence of SiC nano particles additions on the
electrical and thermal conductivity of Al2O3/SiC micro-
/nano composites under normal and high temperatures.
Different samples with various volume fraction of SiC
ranging from 3 vol% to 20 vol% were prepared by hot
pressing at 1740∘C and at 30 MPa pressure in an argon
atmosphere [9, 10]. The results showed that the thermal
properties (thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity)
of Al2O3/SiC nano composites were not influenced by the
size and shape of SiC particles but by the volume content
of these particles. Thermal conductivity increased with
higher contents of SiC nanoparticles up to a maximum
wt%, and 12 wt% contents of SiC. The results showed
interesting indicators. Concerning microstructure and
density, the authors reported a decrease in the number of
thermal conductivity
2.4 Thermal Expansion
Thermal expansion coefficients of composites are very
important in relation to the dimensional stability and the
mechanical compatibility when used with other materials.
The rule of mixtures serves as the first-order approximation
to the overall calculation of the CTE of the ceramics.
When materials are heated, their size and volume increase
in small increments, in a phenomenon known as thermal
expansion. Expansion values vary depending on the
material being heated.
The coefficient ratio of thermal expansion indicates how
much a material expands per 1oC (2.2oF) rise in
temperature. Fine Ceramics (also known as “advanced
ceramics”) have low coefficients of thermal expansion
— less than half those of stainless steels.
The ratio that a material expands in accordance with
changes in temperature is called the coefficient of
thermal expansion. Because Fine Ceramics possess low
coefficients of thermal expansion, their distortion values,
with respect to changes in temperature, are low. The
coefficients of thermal expansion depend on the bond
strength between the atoms that make up the materials.
Covalent materials such as diamond, silicon carbide and
silicon nitride have strong bonds between atoms,
resulting in low coefficients of thermal expansion. In
contrast, materials such as stainless steel possess weaker
bonds between atoms, resulting in much higher
coefficients of thermal expansion in comparison with
Fine Ceramics.
3. Polymers for Microwave Propagation
In commercially high frequency substrates, based on
complex composites of ceramic or woven quartz fillers
and hydrocarbon resins or glass microfibers matrices, it
is difficult to find temperature compensating materials
with low relative permittivity around 10 and low
dielectric loss They are brittle and need to be sintered at
high temperatures. For these reasons, the application of
an individual ceramic is greatly restricted in many
aspects.
Polymeric materials play a vital role in electronic
packages as a result of their ease of processing, low cost,
low relative permittivity, adhesive properties etc., but
with poor thermal and mechanical properties. Thus the
polymer/ceramic composites in which the ceramic fillers
are dispersed in the polymer matrix provide a new route
in combining the merits of ceramics and the polymers.

5
They utilize the thermal properties of ceramic and
processability of polymers. Further, some of these thermoset matrices can even
withstand temperatures to the tune of 350°C–400°C
While polymers are generally well known for their [12], which is significantly higher than the capabilities
electrical insulation characteristics a few of them are offered by most common thermoplastics. Among the
potential candidates for a number of applications that thermoset resins, epoxies are the real workhorses for the
require good electronic and/ or ionic conductivity. aerospace industry. However, the relatively higher
Outstanding properties in one area alone, for example, dipole activity and the presence of hydrogen bonding
conductivity, is not necessarily a guarantee of practical result in a higher tan δ among these epoxies. Further, the
utility as several factors such as cost, processability, ε’ as well as tan δ values of these materials tend to
mechanical integrity, and the quality of polymer - electrode increase further with increase in temperature. But, these
contact come into consideration. Some of these issues are problems are mitigated in some of the special classes of
addressable with organic polymers due to its ability to fine polyester resins. But even then, either the epoxies or the
- tune properties through backbone and / or chain polyesters can at best operate at a temperature of 150°C,
fictionalization. Indeed, the current resurgence in interest which is often a major limitation for many applications.
in electropositive polymers stems from the clever This issue is taken care of by some of the more recent
application of synthetic chemistry to the design of useful thermosets, including polyimides and cyanate esters,
materials. which can withstand temperatures close to 400°C [12,
13, 14].
The microwave constitutes only a small portion of
electromagnetic spectrum, (300 MHz to 300 GHz) but their 3.1. Dielectric constant and Dielectric loss of
uses have become increasingly important in the modern Polymers
world. The dielectric parameters over a wide range of
temperature on low loss dielectrics are needed to assess Both dielectrics with low and high dielectric constant are
their suitability for use in telecommunications, dielectric essential in electronic industries. Low dielectric constant
waveguides, lenses, radomes, dielectric resonators and is required basically as insulators. They are known as
microwave integrated circuit (MIC) substrates and on lossy passivation materials. Their applications ranged in
materials for estimating their heating response in isolating signal-carrying conductors from each other,
microwave heating applications. The dielectric data would fast signal propagation, interlayer dielectric to reduce the
also be required on lossy ceramics for their use as resistance-capacitance (RC) time delays, crosstalk and
microwave absorbers lossy pastes for the design of new power dissipation in the high density and high speed
food packages, heating in microwave ovens and biological integration [15].
materials for diathermy.
Determination of dielectric properties and the use of Dielectric Constant
dielectric heating for polymer synthesis attribute 7
microwaves an important status in polymer chemistry. 6 6.13
Polar starting materials and very often products, allow 5.2
5
rapid and controllable syntheses, the dielectric properties
4 3.2 3.2 4 3.8
themselves being an excellent indicator of reaction
3.4 3.33.2
progress. The ability to control syntheses with high 3 3.1 2.6 3 3.05
2.54 2.6 2.8 2.7
accuracy and with direct heating of the reactants has the 2.1 2.3 2.8
2
advantage of large potential savings in energy. 1
0
Epoxy resins have been most widely investigated because
Rexolite
Nylon
Teflon
Polystyrene (PS)
Plexiglass
Polyethylene (PE)
Poly ether ether ketone (PEEK)
Poly ether sulphone (PES)
Poly carbonate (PC)
Poly ether imide (PEI)
Poly phenylene oxide (PPO)
Epoxy
Polyester
Polyimide
Cyanate ester
Quartz
D-glass
Aramid (KevlarTM)
S-glass
E-glass

of their industrial importance and as their dielectric

properties predispose them to effective microwave induced
curing. The synthesis of Polyamides and polyurethane
films suggests that energy transfer is more efficient with
the use of pulsed microwaves than by continuous power.
This behaviour is characteristic of a relaxation mechanism
due to the movement of chain segments in the
macromolecular network. The intrinsic dielectric properties
of a substance may be enhanced or reduced by the
incorporation of a secondary material. The effect of
secondary material upon dielectric or related properties in Figure 8: Dielectric Constant of Polymers [22]
polymers have been extensively studied using copper
aluminium 16°, carbon black, fibers or other conducting The Figure 8 & Figure 9 lists out the dielectric constant
materials[11]. and dielectric loss of some of the most common

6
Polymers. Aramid (Kevlar TM) offer low ε but a high tan δ,
very attractive for low weight-high strength applications, The cores are either in the forms of honeycomb (e.g.
but has problems with processing (including machining), NomexTM) or as foams (polyurethane foam, Rohacell
moisture absorption and cost. Epoxies are the most foam, Styrofoam, syntactic foam etc.). These are
commonly used resins but can withstand up to 150°C only, extremely low loss lightweight materials with dielectric
whereas polyimides and cyanate esters can be serviced properties very close to that of free space, and are used in
even up to 400°C [14, 16, 17]. a sandwich design in conjunction with suitable skins to
improve the rigidity of structure [20, 21].
Dielectric loss
0.02
0.018
0.016 3.2. Tensile Strength of Polymers
0.014
0.012
0.01
Tensile strength is important for a material that is going
0.008 to be stretched or under tension. Fibers need good tensile
0.006 strength. The image below shows tensile testing of a
0.004 vinyl ether polymer, Isostatic poly (isobutyl vinyl ether).
0.002
0
Then there is compression strength. A polymer sample
Rexolite
Nylon
Teflon
Polystyrene (PS)
Plexiglass
Polyethylene (PE)
Poly ether ether ketone…
Poly ether sulphone (PES)
Poly carbonate (PC)
Poly ether imide (PEI)
Poly phenylene oxide…
Epoxy
Polyester
Polyimide
Cyanate ester
Quartz
D-glass
Aramid (KevlarTM)
S-glass
E-glass

has compression strength if it is strong when one tries to

compress it. Concrete is an example of a material with
good compression strength. Anything that has to support
weight from underneath has to have good compression
strength. Since tensile stress is the force placed on the
sample divided by the cross-sectional area of the sample,
tensile stress, and tensile strength as well, are both
measured in units of force divided by units of area,
Figure 10: Dielectric loss of Polymers [22] usually N/cm2. The Figure: 10 show the tensile strength
of the some of the polymers.
Dielectric loss results from the inability of polarization Tensile strength (MPa)
process in molecules to follow the rate of change of the 70
oscillating applied electric field. This arise from the 60 60
relaxation time (τ) in a polymer which is the time taken for 50
the dipoles to return to its original random orientation. It 40 42
does not occur instantaneously but the polarization 30 32
26 26 28
diminished exponentially. If the relaxation time is smaller 20
or comparable to the rate of oscillating electric field, then 10 10
6
there would be no or minimum loss. However when the 0 0.3
Styrene

Polysterene

PVDF

HPDE

Low-dertsity

High-density

Polvnron

propylene
E1hylene-

Polyrnethid
oolrethylene

oolrethylene

rate of electric field oscillates well faster than the

oentene
relaxation time, the polarization cannot follow the
oscillating frequency resulting in the energy absorption and
dissipated as heat.

Temperature affects dielectric properties. As the
temperature is increased the intermolecular forces between
polymer chains is broken which enhances thermal
agitation. The polar group will be more free to orient
allowing it to keep up with the changing electric field. At
lower temperature, the segmental motion of the chain is
practically freezed and this will reduce the dielectric
constant. At sufficiently higher temperature, the dielectric
constant is again reduced due to strong thermal motion
which disturbs the orientation of the dipoles. At this latter
stage the polarization effectively contributes minimal
dielectric constant [18, 19].
The dielectric loss will show maxima and minima at
respective relaxation mechanisms as the temperature is
increased.
Figure 10: Tensile Strength of Polymers [22]
3.3. Flexural Modulus of Polymers
There is also flexural strength. A polymer sample has
flexural strength if it is strong when one tries to bend it.
The flexural strength of a material is defined as its ability
to resist deformation under load. For materials that
deform significantly but do not break, the load at yield,
typically measured at 5% deformation/strain of the outer
surface, is reported as the flexural strength or flexural
yield strength. The test beam is under compressive stress
at the concave surface and tensile stress at the convex
surface. The analogous test to measure flexural strength
in the ISO system is ISO 178. The values reported in the
ASTM D790 and ISO 178 tests seldom differ
significantly enough to matter in the early stages of

7
materials selection. These tests also give the procedure to Figure 11: Thermal conductivity of Polymers [22]
measure a material's flexural modulus (the ratio of stress to
strain in flexural deformation) [24, 25]. The Figure: 11 The Figure: 11 show the tensile strength of the some of
show the flexural modulus of the some of the polymers. the polymers

Flexural modulus (GPa) 4. Ceramics and Polymer Composites

10 The ever increasing demand for high performance
9 9 electronic devices necessitates new materials to be used
8
7 as circuit board laminates that possess superior
6 properties when compared to the conventionally used
5 ones. These materials should satisfy certain diverse
4 3.7 requirements such as low relative permittivity to reduce
3 3 3.3
2.3 2.65 2.5 the signal propagation delay, low dielectric loss for
2 2.14 2.1
1.25 better device performance, high thermal conductivity to
1 1
0 0.25 0.49 dissipate the heat generated, low or matching thermal
expansion coefficient with that of silicon, moisture
absorption resistance, high dimensional stability and
mechanical flexibility.

Among the various polymers used commercially,

Figure 11: Flexural Modulus of Polymers
3.4. Thermal Conductivity of Polymers
Heat transfer by conduction involves transfer of energy
within a material without any motion of the material as a
whole. Temperature, pressure, density of polymer,
orientation of chain segments, crystal structures, degree of
crystalline, and many other factors may significantly affect
thermal conductivity of polymers [26].
• Generally, with increase in temperature, thermal
conductivity for amorphous polymers increases gradually
in the glassy region and decreases slowly or remains
constant in the rubbery region [26].
• For crystalline polymers, thermal conductivity decreases
steadily with the increase in temperature below the melting
point. At temperature above the melting point, it behaves in
a similar way as amorphous polymers [26].
Thermal Conductivity 23 °C - W/(K.m)
0.5
0.45 0.44
0.4
0.35
0.3 0.3
0.25 0.25
0.2 0.19
0.15 0.14
0.1
0.05
0 density of the composites is rather poor due to the high
Polysterene
Polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) holds a relevant position
due to the superior dielectric properties and excellent
chemical inertness. PTFE has a high virgin crystalline
melting point (342oC), and extremely high shear
viscosity (1011 Poise at 380oC) in the melt. It has a low
relative permittivity of nearly 2.1 and extremely low
dielectric loss of the order of 10-4 which is stable over a
wide range of frequencies [17].
The low loss tangent is a consequence of the
symmetrical conformation of the polymer backbone,
which effectively neutralizes the dipole forces of the C-F
bonds yielding a net zero dipole moment [8]. However,
the high value of coefficient of thermal expansion
(CTE~100 ppm/oC), low thermal conductivity and poor
stress relief restrict the wider usage of PTFE as such for
microelectronic packaging. Many studies were
conducted to improve both the mechanical and dielectric
properties of PTFE by suitable filler incorporation [16,
17]. Chen et al. reported that PTFE filled with 60 wt%
SiO2 filler lowered the coefficient of thermal expansion
with desirable dielectric properties [17]. The addition of
Bi2O3-ZnO-Nb2O5 fillers into the PTFE matrix showed
good frequency stability of relative permittivity over a
wide range and a good agreement with the percolation
theory [14]. In order to develop suitable composites for
0.34 packaging applications, the prime requirement is filler
having low relative permittivity, low dielectric loss, high
thermal conductivity and good thermal stability.
0.19
0.11 Although the powder processing method for the
0.11 synthesis of PTFE based composites is simple, the final

PVDF

HDPE

LDPE

PTFE

Epoxy-resin

EVA

Ethylene-Poly

Polypropylene

amount of porosity. This can be improved by adopting

new preparation method such as melt mixing or sigma
blending technique. However, in order to fabricate PTFE
based composites, high temperature (> 250 oC) is
required.

8

PTFE has very high viscosity compared to other
thermoplastic polymers like polyethylene or polystyrene.
Polystyrene and polyethylene are non polar polymers with
a low melting point of around 150oC. These polymers
possess a low relative permittivity of 2.6 and 3.2
respectively and a low dielectric loss of 0.0006 and 0.0004
respectively at 1 MHz [18]. Even though studies were
reported on the ceramic filled polystyrene composites [19-
21], only a few reports were available which explore the
applicability of polyethylene composites for electronic
packaging. Polyethylene is also a well known polymeric
insulating material. It has got high dielectric strength, low
dielectric loss and good mechanical properties.
There are a number of reports [18, 22-24] showing the
dielectric properties of both metal filled and ceramic filled
polyethylene composites. Various researchers have put
considerable efforts to improve the properties of
polyethylene by varying the filler particle size, using
coupling agents etc. [25-27]. The effects of boron nitride
content, particle size of HDPE and temperature on the
thermal conductivity of HDPE-boron nitride composites
have been investigated by Zhou et al. [28]. There are
reports on the processing and mechanical properties of
multi walled nano tube (MWNT)-HDPE composites [19].
The effect of material parameters and processing
conditions on the foam morphologies and mechanical
properties of HDPE-clay nano composites have been
studied by Jo et al. [20]. Even though the mechanical
properties of HDPE composites are well studied [11-12],
less attention has been paid to its electrical and thermal
properties.
Due to the difference in the surface characteristics between
the inorganic filler and the organic matrix, it is difficult to
disperse the filler homogeneously in the matrix especially
for higher volume fraction of filler which results in high
porosity, high water absorption leading to undesirable
changes in the dielectric properties and also poor
mechanical integrity. In order to improve the properties of
filled polymers various coupling agents are developed [13-
14]. Coupling agents possess special structure with two
different functional groups, one that is attached to the
polymer matrix and the other one attached to the inorganic
filler. Various studies have been reported on the effect of
coupling agents on the thermal, mechanical and dielectric
properties of polymer-ceramic composites [16]. Earlier
Chen et al. [26] investigated the effect of phenyl
trimethoxy silane content on the thermal and dielectric
properties of PTFE/SiO2 composites. The coupling agent
changes the nature by which polymer interacts with the
filler leading to a decrease in the porosity and also the
hydrophilicity of the filler surface. They also prevent the
formation of filler agglomeration there by providing a
homogeneous dispersion of filler in the matrix.
The dielectric properties of composites are very much
dependent on the size and shape of the fillers and the
interaction between the filler and the polymer matrix.
Polymer composites for electromagnetic requirements
are a relatively new and emerging field, primarily
propelled by the aerospace industry because of its
extreme weight criticality. The field is vastly
interdisciplinary, demanding extensive understanding of
materials technology, basic electromagnetic and system
design compulsions. Materials interact with EM waves
through one or more of the three mechanisms, viz.
transmission, reflection and absorption, each of which
respectively plays a dominant role in the most typical
electromagnetic applications in aerospace structures,
viz., radome, EMI shields radar absorption structures
etc.
Of late several attempts were made towards this strategy.
Incorporation of alumina (Al2O3), barium titanate
(BaTiO3), titania (TiO2) and zirconia (ZrO2) into PI
matrix were attempted.. [28, 29] Several methods were
employed in preparing these Nanocomposites. It has
been established that method of preparation affects the
dielectric properties of these materials. A nano
composite of PI/Al2O3 was prepared by mechanical
stirring of pre-polymer polyamic acid with the inorganic
filler followed by thermal curing. [35] The
Nanocomposites showed an improved dielectric constant
compared to a neat polymer material from about 3.0 to
3.4 at 1 MHz. This values increases correspondingly
with the amount of filler loading. A further increase in
dielectric constant was achieved when mixing was
performed using ultrasonication. It has been shown from
SEM result that this improvement was due to a better
mixing during the latter treatment. Under these
processes, the crystal structure of the inorganic fillers
remains intact as shown by XRD data. The effect of
good miscibility in improving the dielectric constant was
proven when using a 3-Aminopropyltrimethoxysilane-
treated(APS) ultrasonication
[29]
5. Conclusion:
Bothe Ceramics, Polymer and their Composite have been
discussed in this review article for microwave
applications. A combination of polymers and ceramic
fillers can effectively resolve the processing cost as well
as processing difficulties with balanced dielectric,
magnetic thermal and mechanical properties. Combining
the dielectric properties of ceramics and the chemical
stability, mechanical flexibility, and processing
possibility of polymers, polymer / ceramic composites
consisting of ceramic particles in a polymer matrix is
scope of further study and research work for high
frequency applications The composites should have a
low dielectric constant in order to reduce the signal
propagation delay and low dielectric loss (tanδ) for
9
lower loss microwave propagation and better device NANOCOMPOSITES, Int. J. Chem. Sci.: 14(2),
performance. 2016, 824-828, ISSN 0972-768X
[14] T.S. SASIKALA and M.T. SEBASTIAN1, (2015)
Conflict of Interests “Microwave Dielectric Properties of Polystyrene–
Forsterite (Mg2SiO4) Composite”, Journal of
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests Electronic Materials November 2015
regarding the publication of this paper. DOI:10.1007/s11664-015-4188-4
[15] Tayssir Ben Ghzaiel, Wadia Dhaoui, Frederic
Acknowledgments Mazaleyrat ,”Magnetic behaviour of
Polyaniline/BaFe12O19 composites synthesised by
The corresponding author gratefully acknowledges the
two different pathways” (2014) SYMPOSIUM DE
support given by Sharda University and Central
GENIE ELECTRIQUE (SGE’14) : EF-EPF-MGE
Electronics Limited India.
2014, 8-10
[16] A.P.Venugopal, O.Cespedes, S.J.Russell, (2013) ”
Controlling Dielectric and Magnetic Properties of
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