PEI's excellent dimensional stability, high temperature resistance, electroplatability, and wave transmission performance make it uniquely advantageous in the field of 5G communication.
1: Optical communication
The significant increase in the deployment of 5G base stations and data centers requires a large amount of data transmission to be interconnected through fiber optics, which brings new opportunities to the optical communication market. Due to the fact that optical communication signal transmission mainly occurs in the infrared band, materials are required to have high infrared band transmittance, low loss, as well as good long-term dimensional stability and weather resistance.
PEI material is widely used in the field of optical communication, including fiber optic connectors and optical components for optical transceiver modules. PEI material has excellent infrared penetration, with a transmittance of over 88% in the 850nm-1550nm optical communication frequency band. Its high refractive index can remain constant with temperature and humidity changes, and can withstand the harsh double 85 (85 ℃/85% humidity) for up to 2000 hours; Meanwhile, the long-term dimensional stability of PEI material provides reliable optical docking for signal transmission; PEI has high strength and modulus, and is used to replace metal in manufacturing fiber optic connectors, adapters, and other structural components, or to replace glass in manufacturing optical transceiver modules. It can optimize the component structure, simplify its manufacturing and assembly process, while maintaining its size, thereby significantly reducing the cost of the final product.
In addition, due to the high dimensional stability and strength characteristics of PEI material, as well as excellent weather resistance, its application in the field of waterproof connectors for fiber optic splitters or base stations can meet the IP67 waterproof requirements, significantly improving the long-term airtightness and reliability of the product.
2: RF connector
5G adopts Massive MIMO technology. Each base station uses 2 to 3 antennas (AAUs), each antenna can have multiple channels. The connection between the antenna board and the RF board, as well as between the antenna feed board and the cavity filter board, is made using board to board connectors. Due to the significant increase in demand for RF connectors in 5G antennas, the traditional use of thermosetting materials (PTFE) and large-scale production through CNC machining has become a constraint in the industry.
Radio frequency connector insulators require materials that provide good dielectric properties, low and stable dielectric losses, excellent mechanical properties, excellent dimensional stability for easy assembly, and reliable large-scale production performance. PEI materials can meet application requirements in all aspects and have become the primary choice for radio frequency connector insulator materials.
Whether for traditional three-stage board to board connectors or pogo pin designs, PEI materials can meet customer needs, reflecting the advantages of PEI materials over a wide temperature range, including dimensional stability, stable dielectric properties, high mechanical strength, high fusion line strength, and temperature resistance, which are superior to other engineering plastics. PEI provides customers with more stable product performance and reduces costs.
In addition to board to board connectors, feeder connectors are replaced with metal shells of DIN connectors, and traditional RF coaxial connector insulators and shells also widely use PEI materials.
3: Filter
With the significant increase in the number of 5G antenna channels and the integration of antennas and RRUs into AAUs, there are reports that the weight of 5G antennas will increase by 30% to 80% compared to 4G antennas. How to reduce the weight of 5G antennas has become a topic of concern for major antenna manufacturers and base station equipment suppliers. The plasticization of metal filters has once again become a focus of attention for major equipment manufacturers.
The filter cavity requires plastic materials with high heat resistance, and even some antenna manufacturers have proposed to meet the requirements of high-temperature reflow soldering process; Simultaneously, it is required that the material has a linear expansion coefficient that matches the metal and remains constant with increasing temperature; It has excellent electroplating performance to ensure the dimensional accuracy of the cavity and the bonding strength with the surface coating at high and low temperatures, thereby ensuring the stable performance of the filter during operation. Metallized plastic materials can undergo environmental simulation experiments and reliability verification, including high and low temperature cycling, wet heat aging, etc. The material does not deform, the coating does not peel off, and the mechanical properties remain stable.
PEI resin material, as an amorphous material with high glass transition temperature, has a linear thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of aluminum alloy, which remains constant with increasing temperature. It has excellent heat resistance and dimensional stability, long-term reliability, low and stable dielectric loss, can be electroplated, and has good metal adhesion. It shows unparalleled advantages in the application of cavity filters compared to other plastic materials, and can achieve weight reduction of up to 30% for 5G cavity filter units; And it can achieve large-scale production through injection molding technology, maintain dimensional accuracy between batches, and reduce production costs.
Given the excellent characteristics of PEI, PEI material has been widely used in filter related components such as tuning screws, flying rod bases, fixing screws, etc. in the 3G and 4G era. With the development of 5G technology, product size has decreased, and precision and mechanical performance requirements have become more stringent. The application advantages of PEI are becoming increasingly significant.
4: Phase shifter
In China, PEI is also widely used in phase shifters, whether it is the dielectric sheet of the dielectric phase shifter or the PCB bracket in the ring phase shifter, all benefit from the stable size and dielectric properties of PEI material over a wide temperature range, low dielectric loss, high mechanical strength, and excellent resilience. With the gradual commercialization of 5G base stations and the pursuit of further reducing energy consumption and costs, traditional dielectric phase shifters or ring phase shifters will have the opportunity to replace chip phase shifters and be widely used in 5G passive MIMO antennas.
In summary, special engineering plastic PEI has a wide range of application prospects in the 5G field due to its unique advantages in heat resistance, dimensional stability, dielectric stability, and metal bonding compared to other engineering plastics.
