Taconic TLC - Low Cost RF Microwave Laminate Substrate | Taconic
MPN: TLC β Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12.5 | $12.50 |
| 10 | $11.25 | $112.50 |
| 100 | $10 | $1,000.00 |
| 500 | $9 | $4,500.00 |
| 1,000 | $8.1 | $8,100.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for TLC β same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
TLC-30
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
TLC-32
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
RO4350B
β Drop-Inπ Reference alternative (not in catalog)
TLC Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Product Type | Woven glass / ceramic-filled PTFE microwave laminate |
| Manufacturer | Taconic |
| Application Segment | Low cost RF / microwave substrate |
| Electrical Performance Class | Superior to FR-4, PPO, BT, polyimide, cyanate ester |
| Processability | Sheared, drilled, milled and plated using standard PCB processes |
| Mechanical Stability | Exceptional (per manufacturer datasheet) |
| Thickness Variant Example | TLC-30, TLC-32 (thickness designations) |
TLC standard Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for TLC (standard package). This digital IC includes GPIO, communication interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C), and power pins. Refer to the manufacturer datasheet for alternate pin functions and configuration options. Essential for embedded system design and PCB layout.
No detailed pinout data available for TLC.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Safe Operating Area (SOA) & Thermal Characteristics
No official SOA curve available for this digital IC. Always operate within absolute maximum ratings specified in the datasheet. Ensure adequate cooling and derate as needed.
Typical Applications
TLC is suitable for 6 applications: Microwave Communication Boards, Antennas and Feed Networks, RF Passive Components (Filters and Couplers), RF Power Amplifier Boards, Automotive Radar and Sensor RF Circuitry, General RF Interconnect and Backhaul Boards.
Microwave Communication Boards
TLC's PTFE-based dielectric system provides the low-loss, stable-dielectric-constant platform required for microwave communication transceiver boards operating in the GHz range, where FR-4's high dissipation factor would degrade link margin. Because TLC is engineered explicitly as a cost-effective microwave substrate, it fits volume communication products that need better RF performance than FR-4 without the cost of premium laminates. The material processes on standard fabrication lines, so manufacturers can drop TLC into existing FR-4 production flows and realize the electrical benefit with minimal process change, making it a practical choice for commercial radio and wireless infrastructure boards.
Recommended
Antennas and Feed Networks
Antenna radiators, patch arrays, and corporate feed networks benefit from TLC's PTFE dielectric, whose lower loss and more stable dielectric constant than FR-4 improve radiation efficiency and keep feed-line impedance consistent across temperature. The datasheet notes exceptional mechanical stability, which helps maintain resonant dimensions in humidity-varying outdoor installations. Since TLC supports standard shearing, drilling, milling and plating, antenna fabricators can build prototypes and production panels on conventional equipment. Designers should extract the dielectric constant at the operating frequency from the TLC datasheet to size patch dimensions and 50-ohm feed line widths accurately.
Recommended
RF Passive Components (Filters and Couplers)
Distributed-element filters, directional couplers, and power dividers are highly sensitive to substrate dielectric constant tolerance and dissipation factor, both of which TLC improves substantially relative to FR-4, PPO, BT, polyimide and cyanate ester thermosets per the Taconic datasheet. The low-loss PTFE system reduces passband insertion loss and improves filter Q, directly benefiting receiver sensitivity and transmit efficiency. TLC's cost-effective positioning allows passive component manufacturers to achieve respectable microwave performance at consumer-scale budgets, and its standard-process compatibility keeps component fabrication cost low while preserving dimensional and electrical repeatability across production lots.
Recommended
RF Power Amplifier Boards
Power amplifier output matching networks and combiners require substrates with low dielectric loss to avoid wasting RF power as heat in the board itself; TLC's PTFE-based construction delivers lower loss than thermoset laminates, improving amplifier efficiency and thermal behavior. The laminate's exceptional mechanical stability maintains matching-network geometry under the thermal cycling that amplifier boards experience. Because TLC handles standard drilling and plating, thermal vias and heavy copper heat-spreading structures can be incorporated using conventional fabrication, letting PA designers balance RF performance, thermal management, and cost in commercial amplifier products without exotic substrate processing.
Recommended
Automotive Radar and Sensor RF Circuitry
Sensor front-ends operating at microwave frequencies demand substrates whose dielectric constant remains stable over automotive temperature ranges; TLC's mechanically stable PTFE construction provides this dimensional and electrical consistency better than FR-4-class thermosets. Its cost-effectiveness is important in automotive volumes where premium laminates would dominate the sensor bill of materials. Standard-process compatibility (shearing, drilling, milling, plating) allows automotive PCB suppliers to adopt TLC without capital investment. Designers must confirm the exact Dk, dissipation factor, and thickness variant from the TLC datasheet to maintain impedance control across the sensor front-end transmission lines.
Recommended
General RF Interconnect and Backhaul Boards
Point-to-point backhaul radios, RF distribution panels, and interconnect boards that carry GHz signals between modules need substrate loss and impedance stability beyond FR-4 capability but often cannot justify premium laminate pricing. TLC was engineered precisely for this middle ground, providing superior electrical performance versus thermoset laminates at a cost-effective substrate price. Because it fabricates on standard lines, mixed-material stack-ups combining TLC RF layers with FR-4 digital layers are practical, enabling hybrid boards where microwave routing uses TLC while control logic uses low-cost FR-4, optimizing both performance and system cost in backhaul and distribution equipment.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for TLC β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | TLC-30 | TLC-32 | RO4350B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package (Form Factor) | Woven glass / ceramic-filled PTFE laminate panel | TLC family laminate panel (thickness variant) | TLC family laminate panel (thickness variant) | Ceramic-filled hydrocarbon laminate panel |
| Brand | Taconic | Taconic | Taconic | Rogers Corporation |
| Dielectric Chemistry | Woven glass / ceramic-filled PTFE | Woven glass / ceramic-filled PTFE | Woven glass / ceramic-filled PTFE | Ceramic-filled hydrocarbon thermoset |
| Electrical Performance vs FR-4 | Superior (per datasheet) | Superior (same family) | Superior (same family) | Superior |
| Standard PCB Process Compatibility | Yes - shear, drill, mill, plate | Yes | Yes | Yes - standard FR-4 process |
| Cost Positioning | Low cost RF substrate | Low cost (same family) | Low cost (same family) | [DATA_NEEDED] (premium tier) |
| Thickness Options | Multiple (TLC family thickness designations) | TLC-30 thickness | TLC-32 thickness | [DATA_NEEDED] |
| Mechanical Stability | Exceptional (per datasheet) | Exceptional (same family) | Exceptional (same family) | High |
Key Differentiators
- Lowest-cost route to genuine PTFE-grade RF performance (vs RO4350B)
- Standard-process fabrication without exotic handling (vs RO4350B)
- Multiple thickness variants within one chemistry family (vs TLC-30)
Design Notes
Before releasing an impedance-controlled layout on TLC, obtain the dielectric constant (Dk) and dissipation factor at your actual design frequency from the current Taconic TLC datasheet for the specific thickness variant (e.g., TLC-30 or TLC-32). PTFE-based laminates exhibit different Dk dispersion than FR-4, and using a generic Dk value can shift 50-ohm line widths and patch resonances by several percent. Re-run the stack-up calculation with the fabricator's pressed-thickness tolerance, not the nominal laminate thickness.
TLC can be sheared, drilled, milled and plated using standard PCB processes per the datasheet, so select a fabricator already qualified on Taconic laminates and confirm their drilling parameters for the PTFE system. While no exotic processing is required, PTFE resin systems can behave differently in drilling and desmear than epoxy FR-4; requesting the fabricator's TLC process notes and first-article cross-sections prevents via barrel defects in production.
Do not substitute TLC for another RF laminate purely on the basis of 'PTFE low-loss' reputation: verify Dk tolerance, loss tangent, and thickness against the design frequency and the outgoing material spec. Also note that the bare MPN 'TLC' is a family designation - always specify the full order code including thickness and copper cladding (e.g., TLC-30 or TLC-32 with copper weight) on purchase orders, since ordering by family name alone can result in the wrong stack-up arriving at the fabricator.
Compliance Information
Compliance declarations were not present in the reviewed datasheet excerpts; request formal RoHS/REACH declarations from Taconic or an authorized distributor.
