Low-Dissipation Thermosets Derived from Oligo(2,6-Dimethyl Phenylene Oxide)-Containing Benzoxazines

Tetrafluorophenylene-Containing Vinylbenzyl Ether-Terminated Oligo(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) with Better Thermal, Dielectric, and Flame-Retardant Properties for Application in High-Frequency Communication

In an integrated circuit, signal propagation loss is proportional to the frequency, dissipation factor (D _f), and square root of dielectric constant (D _k). The loss becomes obvious as we move to high-frequency communication. Therefore, a polymer having low D _k and D _f is critical for copper-clad laminates at higher frequencies. For this purpose, a 4-vinylbenzyl ether phenoxy-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenylene-terminated OPE (VT-OPE) resin was synthesized and its properties were compared with the thermoset of commercial OPE-2St resin. The thermoset of VT-OPE shows a higher T _g (242 vs 229 °C), a relatively high cross-linking density (1.59 vs 1.41 mmole cm^-3), a lower coefficient of thermal expansion (55 vs 76 ppm/°C), better dielectric characteristic at 10 GHz (D _k values of 2.58 vs 2.75, D _f values of 0.005 vs 0.006), lower water absorption (0.135 vs 0.312 wt %), and better flame retardancy (UL-94 VTM-0 vs VTM-1 with dropping seriously) than the thermoset of OPE-2St. To verify the practicability of VT-OPE for copper-clad laminate, a laboratory process was also performed to prepare a copper-clad laminate, which shows a high peeling strength with copper foil (5.5 lb/in), high thermal reliability with a solder dipping test at 288 °C (>600 s), and the time for delamination of the laminate in thermal mechanical analysis (TMA) at 288 °C is over 60 min.

Effects of Peroxide Initiator on the Structure and Properties of Ultralow Loss Thermosetting Polyphenylene Oxide-Based Composite

Although thermosetting polyphenylene oxide- (PPO) based composites with excellent dielectric properties have been widely accepted as superior resin matrices of high-performance copper clad laminate (CCL) for 5G network devices, there has been limited information regarding the composition–process–structure–property relationships of the systems. In this work, the effects of peroxide initiator concentration on the structure and dielectric properties of a free radical cured ultralow loss PPO/Triallyl isocyanate (TAIC) composite system were studied. As expected, the glass transition temperature (T_g) and storage modulus increased with the advancing of crosslinking, whereas the dielectric loss showed an “abnormal” rise with the increase in crosslink density. Extensive studies were carried out by varying the initiator contents and characterizing the structure with spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and positron annihilation lifetime spectrum (PALS) techniques. The results show that the competition of polarity, crosslink density, free volume, and free TAIC are the key factors determining the dielectric properties of the composites.

Phosphinated Poly(aryl ether)s with Acetic/Phenyl Methacrylic/Vinylbenzyl Ether Moieties for High-T g and Low-Dielectric Thermosets

To achieve insulating materials with a low-dielectric characteristic for high-frequency communication applications, three phosphinated poly(aryl ether)s: P1-act (with acetic moiety), P1-mma (with phenyl methacrylic moiety), and P1-vbe (with vinylbenzyl ether moiety) were modified from a phenol-functionalized phosphinated poly(aryl ether) (P1). P1-act and P1-mma, both with active ester linkages (Ph-O-(C=O)-), were reacted with three commercial epoxy resins (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, HP7200, and cresol novolac epoxy) to obtain secondary hydroxyl-free epoxy thermosets. Because of the secondary hydroxyl-free structure, epoxy thermosets cured by P1-act and P1-mma show an 11-15% reduction in dielectric constant than those cured by P1. P1-vbe, with reactive vinylbenzyl ether moieties, was self-cured to a high-performance thermoset with a T _g value as high as 302 °C and a dielectric constant as low as 2.64U. High-T _g and low-dielectric thermosets have been developed in this work.