Everything you need to specify and design with Taconic high-frequency laminates — a searchable database of every grade with full technical datasheets, a live microstrip & stripline impedance calculator, plus practical design, manufacturing, cost and application guidance. Built for the engineers who actually lay out the boards.
Search and filter the full Taconic family — woven-glass PTFE (TLY/TLX/TLC), ceramic-filled PTFE (RF series), high-Dk ceramics, the low-loss TSM-DS3 system, bonding films and prepregs. Click any row for the full technical datasheet and design notes.
| Part # | Dk ▲▼ | Df ▲▼ | @ Freq | k (W/m·K) ▲▼ | CTE z | Best for |
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Solve characteristic impedance for microstrip and stripline on any Taconic laminate, or synthesize the trace width you need to hit a target impedance. Pulls Dk straight from the material database — change the dropdown and every result updates live.
Practical guidance that separates a Taconic board that meets spec from one that comes back off-target. These are the things that bite RF designers in production.
Taconic's tight Dk windows (±0.02 to ±0.05) are why these laminates exist. Use the etched Dk from your fab's controlled-impedance coupon, not just the datasheet value — copper roughness and resin content shift effective Dk.
Above ~10 GHz, conductor roughness can dominate insertion loss. Specify VLP / rolled-annealed (RA) or reverse-treated foil (CV1/RH/CLH) instead of standard ED copper to recover dB.
Put RF only where you need it. Bond a thin RF-35 / TLY RF layer to FR-4 digital cores with fastRise or TacBond prepreg — performance up top, low cost underneath.
Pure PTFE laminates have z-CTE up to ~280 ppm/°C. Design robust plated through-holes, avoid thin barrels, and prefer ceramic-filled grades (RF-35, TSM-DS3) for thick multilayers and thermal cycling.
Higher Dk shrinks the circuit (great for patch antennas → CER-10, RF-60) but slows signals and can raise loss. Lower Dk (TLY-5) gives the lowest loss and widest lines. Use the Dk spectrum above to trade off.
Taconic moisture absorption is <0.02%, so humidity-driven Dk drift is tiny — a real edge over FR-4. Still, design filters and couplers around the Dk-vs-temperature curve, not a single point.
PTFE doesn't behave like FR-4 on the line. Here's what your fabricator handles differently — worth knowing so your design and your shop stay aligned.
PTFE is famously non-stick, so plated copper and soldermask won't bond without help. Fabs use sodium-naphthalene etch or plasma treatment to activate hole walls and surfaces before plating.
Soft PTFE smears and "gummies" if run like FR-4. Shops dial in lower infeed, higher RPM, fresh carbide and frequent bit changes; lightly-reinforced grades (TLY-5, RF-35P) and laser-friendly variants improve microvia quality.
Fusion-bonding pure PTFE means 550–650 °F (288–343 °C) presses with heavy material movement and PTH stress. Thermoset prepregs change the game:
PTFE's high CTE and softness mean tighter scaling and registration control, careful storage, and copper-type selection. Ceramic-filled and TSM-DS3 grades (≈5% glass) fabricate with near-epoxy predictability for large-format multilayers.
Indicative material cost relative to standard FR-4 (= 1×). Real pricing depends on thickness, copper type, layer count, panel utilization and volume — but the relative tiers help you choose with budget in mind.
A 2-layer RF cap bonded to an FR-4 sub-stack can cut material cost dramatically versus an all-PTFE build, with no RF penalty where it counts.
RF-35A2 / RF-35P trade a hair of loss for a lower price — fine for sub-6 GHz commercial radios. Reserve TLY-5A and TSM-DS3 for mmWave and ultra-low-loss links.
PTFE processing yield is the hidden cost. Robust PTH design, sensible aspect ratios and fab-friendly stack-ups keep scrap — and price — down.
From sub-6 GHz radios to 77 GHz radar. Tap a material chip to jump straight to its datasheet.
Low-loss substrates for mmWave front-ends, massive-MIMO antennas and small cells where every tenth of a dB matters.
ADAS long- and short-range radar demands tight Dk and low loss at 77 GHz, with fastRise enabling reliable multilayer radar stacks.
Phased arrays, LNBs and feed networks rely on TLY's ultra-low loss tangent and dimensional stability across temperature.
Power-amplifier carriers, filters and combiners for cellular infrastructure — RF-35 is the industry workhorse here.
Patch and phased-array antennas: high-Dk ceramics shrink the element, low-Dk PTFE widens bandwidth and cuts loss.
Couplers, filters, dividers and avionics where stable, repeatable, low-loss performance is non-negotiable.
This tool covers the essentials for fast selection and design. For the complete write-up — properties, comparisons, fabrication detail and selection workflow — read the full Taconic PCB guide on PCBSync.