Surface mount stripline devices having ceramic and soft board hybrid materials

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method for making a hybrid material stripline device. The method includes providing an inner layer of material, the inner layer including a dielectric material and at least one conductive sheet. At least one stripline device is formed in the inner layer by processing the at least one conductive sheet. The at least one stripline device is characterized by a surface area footprint. A first exterior layer and a second exterior layer are provided. At least one of the first exterior layer and/or the second exterior layer includes at least one ceramic portion. The at least one ceramic portion has a ceramic surface area greater than or substantially equal to the surface area footprint of the at least one stripline device. At least one of the first exterior layer and/or the second exterior layer further includes a softboard dielectric material. The inner layer of material is sandwiched between the first exterior layer and the second exterior layer. The first exterior layer, the inner layer and the second exterior layer are laminated to form a laminate panel structure, a surface of the first exterior layer forming a first major surface of the laminate panel structure and a surface of the second exterior layer forming a second major surface of the laminate panel structure. A first conductive sheet is disposed over the first major surface and a second conductive sheet is disposed over the second major surface, the first conductive sheet and the second conductive sheet being configured as parallel ground planes for the at least one stripline device.