Conductor Geometry
Copper foils used in high speed printed circuit boards are processed to varying surface roughnesses to match specific frequency and skin depth requirements. The hyper very low profile copper denotes a grade of electrodeposited foil with a surface roughness below two micrometers, which is designed to reduce signal attenuation at frequencies exceeding ten gigahertz. This exceptionally smooth foil minimizes the electrical path length of signals that run along the conductor outer boundary.
High frequency designers select this foil type when laying out dense multi-layer boards for backplanes and communications hardware.
High Frequency Loss
Skin effect forces high frequency electrical current to flow along the outer surface of a conductor. When hyper very low profile copper is used, the current encounters a highly uniform, flat surface that does not force the electrons to follow a tortuous, resistive path. In contrast, standard foil surfaces are rough and create a longer effective trace length for high frequency signals, which causes higher conductor losses.
The utilization of this smooth foil reduces dielectric and conductor attenuation, keeping signal power higher over longer trace runs. This attenuation reduction is especially critical in ethernet applications running at speeds up to one hundred gigabits per second.
Adhesion Tradeoff
Peel strength presents a challenging constraint during the board lamination process. Smoother copper foils have less mechanical interlocking area, making them more susceptible to delamination under thermal or mechanical stress. Manufacturers must use specialized silane bonding treatments on hyper very low profile copper to ensure it adheres strongly to the resin system.
This surface treatment ensures the copper trace does not lift from the dielectric laminate during assembly soldering.