Sourcing tool

PCB material advisor

Choose the laminate grade, copper foil and glass a channel actually needs, then see which laminates from which makers fit, where they are made, how hard they are to get in 2026 and how long a substitution takes to qualify. It is a sourcing decision aid for the material line of a stackup, not a signal-integrity sign-off.

1 · Channel

2 · Board and program

What you get

  • The lowest laminate grade and foil that fit your loss allowance, ranked by how hard they are to get in 2026, with alternatives one grade up.
  • Laminates of that grade from several makers, with published Dk and Df, plants and origin notes.
  • Glass guidance for loss, skew and warpage, and the time a substitution takes to qualify.

Loss uses the same first-order model as the loss budget estimator (about ±20%). Sign-off needs a field solver or a measured model of the real stackup.

How the recommendation is made

The advisor estimates stripline trace loss for every laminate grade from FR-4 to M9 with every copper foil from standard ED to HVLP3, keeps the combinations inside your allowance, and ranks them by 2026 availability first and cost order second. Each grade is represented by one published laminate: MEGTRON 4, 6, 7 and 8 from Panasonic and ThunderClad 5Q (TU-953Q) from TUC for M9.

Every lane rate has a starting floor that the trace loss alone cannot lower: M6 laminate and VLP foil from 56G, M8 laminate and HVLP3-class foil at 224G. Vias, connectors, fiber-weave skew and the rise of Df with frequency use margin that a trace-only estimate does not see, so recommending less would look right on paper and fail on the bench. When no allowance is entered at 112G or 224G, half of the IEEE 802.3ck (28 dB) or 802.3dj (40 dB) channel budget is assumed for the PCB trace; replace it with your own split.

Where the data comes from

Laminate Dk and Df are the makers' published typical values at the stated frequency. Test methods differ between makers, and the same laminate can read about 30% apart in Df by two methods, so compare products within one method and confirm the value for your exact glass style and resin content. Plants and 2026 availability come from company filings and industry reporting; a quote confirms allocation for the specific order.

References

  1. Panasonic MEGTRON 4/6/7/8, EMC EM-890K/EM-892K/EM-892K2, TUC ThunderClad, ITEQ, Isola, Doosan, Shengyi and Resonac product pages and datasheets.
  2. IEEE 802.3ck (100 Gb/s per lane electrical) and 802.3dj (200 Gb/s per lane) channel insertion-loss budgets.
  3. Nittobo glass fiber composition table (E-, NE- and T-glass Dk, Df, CTE and modulus).
  4. DIGITIMES, TrendForce, NextPCB and Atlas PCB reporting on 2026 laminate, glass cloth and foil supply; ITEQ investor presentation, March 2026 (grade mapping).