There will be loss in signal transmission. The level of loss is determined by the insulating material. When transmitting at low frequencies, traditional PI insulating materials can meet it. However, in high-frequency transmission mode, ordinary insulating materials will cause a large amount of signal loss, reducing signal transmission stability. . "Wang Yang said that the loss value of the LCP substrate is only 2 ‰ to 4 ‰, which is 10 times smaller than the electromagnetic loss of 2% of the traditional substrate, which can effectively reduce the loss.
Loss is not the biggest issue yet. "When transmitting at low frequencies, there is only one signal line, and there is no interference. However, at high frequencies, several signal lines work at the same time. If they are not insulated with special insulating materials, they will cause interference between signals, which will cause a big problem. Now. "
LCP film is this kind of special insulating material, and it is also an internationally recognized insulating material essential for 5G signal receiving antennas.
"Not just mobile phones, all 5G application areas definitely involve signal reception, so they all need to be used."
Price is obviously not the biggest issue. This kind of LCP film is only available to a few companies in Japan and other countries in the world. At present, China does not have the production capacity. In other words, in the era of 5G applications, this film may become a card neck product.
To produce LCP film, the biggest difficulty is the upstream LCP film special resin.
The LCP film special resin is the product of the highest cost, the highest technical barriers and the most difficult technology in the LCP series. It is the base material of the LCP film. LCP film requires the resin to have higher tensile strength and better toughness in order to be processed and formed.
This is exactly the research field of NBJJ Material Technology Company and team for many years.
Back in 2011, during his PhD, Wang Yang of the project team worked with his doctoral tutor on polymer materials research. In 2014, a teacher from Harbin Institute of Technology found him and invited him to develop high-performance LCP materials together. Wang Yang and his classmates formed a small team to start special research on LCP engineering plastics. It was also in this year that Wang Yang successfully developed the first domestic LCP material with main performance indicators such as color, fluidity, toughness, foaming temperature, recycling utilization rate, and strength in the laboratory.
In the following two years, Wang Yang continuously improved the pilot plant and adjusted the process.
Wang Yang recalled: "In the initial stage of the pilot test, the product indicators produced by the equipment were significantly different from the laboratory results. Before we were satisfied with the final results of the product, the experimental logbook showed that we had conducted more than 1,500 times. Experiments show that our current product advantages are pure color, high fluidity, good toughness, high foaming temperature, high recycling rate and high strength. "
In 2016, the various test indexes of successful LCP materials for pilot plants have approached or even exceeded imported materials.
In September 2017, Wang Yang's project won the first prize (first place) at the 4th China Global New Materials Industry Competition.
LCP materials are used in a wide range of applications, including electronics, electrical, optical, chemical, automotive, aerospace, and daily necessities. And relying on technical advantages, the prices of various types of LCP materials sold by Jujia are much lower than similar foreign products. So just relying on the sales of LCP materials, the market prospects of NBJJ new materials are also widely optimistic.
At the end of 2017, NBJJ New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. completed 80 million yuan in financing.
However, 5G is the opportunity the company has been waiting for.
"In 2014, my team successfully developed high-performance LCP. At this time, I realized that what we can do may change the domestic LCP industry." Wang Yang said that Apple only started using LCP films in 2016.
The company began to target the development of 5G mobile phone antenna LCP substrates. Wang Yang said that LCP substrates should be used in the production of mobile phone antennas, and the main difficulty lies in making qualified LCP films by stretching. At present, the special resin for LCP film produced by Jujia New Material has a tensile strength of 400MPa and an elongation at break of 40%, which fully meets the conditions for film formation.
"At present, domestic enterprises do not have the independent LCP pure resin production technology, and the imported resin materials are expensive, which limits the widespread use in many fields, and also faces the risk of supply interruption." Wang Yang said that the current price of imported films is very expensive And the successful development of NBJJ products not only breaks the international monopoly, but also can effectively help domestic enterprises reduce the cost of use.
In October 2019, NBJJ New Materials received a new round of financing with a financing amount of nearly 170 million yuan.
With the help of capital, the progress of LCP film development is expected to improve significantly. At present, NBJJ has successfully prepared samples of LCP films, and is negotiating cooperation with well-known foreign biaxially stretch film equipment suppliers, and plans to build an LCP film production line with an annual output of one million square meters.
For the outlet of 5G applications, Wang Yang has a clear grasp. "2019 is the first year of the 5G market, but the demand will not be particularly large. By 2021, downstream demand will burst out."
"The installation of the test line is completed this year, and the scale of the annual output of 1 million square meters of LCP film will be formed next year, and product promotion will begin; by 2021, the production capacity will double again."