Materials for Connectors Product Roundup

By AJ Born | June 18, 2024

This week’s Product Roundup highlights materials for connectors from leading connector manufacturers and suppliers.

Materials for connectors

RF connectors are available in a variety of materials to suit the usage requirements and the application’s operating environment. Brass is the most common base material but those made with stronger base materials, such as stainless steel, generally permit rougher handling without the risk of reduced performance. They allow the connectors to operate at higher frequencies and are better able to withstand environmental and usage factors. Dielectric materials and surface finishes also affect the performance of RF connectors and their resistance to environmental damage. Dielectric materials such as Delrin are suitable for lower frequencies while the use of a material such as PTFE is a slightly better insulator and provides lower loss. Nickel and gold are frequently used connector finishes, suiting a wide variety of applications. Other surface finishes bring different benefits, such as non-reflective black finishes where reflections are undesirable, or passivated stainless steel, silver, and white bronze for higher frequency or harsh environment usage. This SMA Reverse Polarity 3 Hole Flange IP68 Jack from COAX Connectors features a black non reflective nickel and a gold plated contact and PCB solder body.

Seal-Connect’s electrical connectors are manufactured with Greene Tweed’s Arlon PEEK and Avalon PEK thermoplastic materials for excellent mechanical and electrical property performance, compared to traditional glass to metal connectors. Our proprietary cross-linked PEEK, Arlon 3000XT, was developed to improve the performance and reliability of unfilled PEEK grades in harsh, high temperature applications. When used as a connector body or insulation material, Arlon 3000XT can improve performance by protecting critical electrical signals in environments with temperatures ranging from 260 °C to 300 °C and steam. This material has superior chemical resistance as it can handle harsh media and has had extensive harsh chemical fluid aging testing. Arlon 3000XT can also be net or near net molded, reducing the cost and time for machining and improving the manufacturing capability for complex insulator geometries.

Materion’s Alloy M25 (C17300) copper-beryllium rod is used to link the antennas at the top of cell towers to mobile networks and data centers. M25’s properties minimize signal distortion in coaxial RF connectors and reduce power loss in circular connectors and contact probes. M25 is available in straight rod or coiled wire product forms and in different tempers to accommodate diverse design requirements. After machining and forming operations, M25 parts can be easily heat treated and plated to obtain maximum mechanical and electrical performance. Applications requiring stability to 175 °C or reliable contact force in miniaturized designs specify Alloy M25. In demanding electronic applications, M25 provides performance and reliability superior to any free-machining copper alloy. Materion’s high strength, mill hardened copper beryllium (UNS C17200) strip materials, Alloy 190 and Alloy 290, provide the highest strength of any mill hardened copper alloy, combined with electrical conductivity considerably greater than other high strength copper alloys. They are used for card edge, backplane, and midplane connectors in data centers and cloud solution provider servers. These alloys minimize the heat generated when signals pass from card to card. Their excellent stress relaxation resistance means that the connectors don’t lose signal int egrity over time.

For the connector market, Meco supplies a number of patented techniques to improve your plating process on selectivity, productivity and flexibility. In general, copper and nickel finishes are usually applied by all over plating. The more precious metals, like gold or palladium, are selectively plated on only the functional areas of the connector by a number of different techniques like control depth plating, stripe plating, spot plating, front and rear side plating, or contour plating. Finally the solder finish area of the connector is plated by control depth plating, stripe plating, or spot plating.

Mikron manufactures complex and precise metal components in high volumes. Our machining systems lay the basis to considerably reduce production costs and optimize resource utilization. Rooted in Swiss innovation and quality culture, we are a long-term process and technology partner for component suppliers focused on quality and precision.

Like this article? Check out our other Product Roundup, Product News, and Connector Industry News features and our 2024 Article Archives.

Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletters, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and check out our eBook archives for more applicable, expert-informed connectivity content.

Author
Recent Posts

AJ Born

Associate Editor at ConnectorSupplier.com

AJ (Amy J.) Born first landed in the engineering space writing and editing for IEEE GlobalSpec (Engineering360.com). In addition to engineering, her published articles cover topics as diverse as HVAC, small business, mental health, and spirituality/personal growth. At Connector Supplier AJ combines her writing and marketing expertise as associate editor. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University at Buffalo and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder. AJ can be reached at [email protected].