Polymer Composition for Use in an Antenna System

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021057811-A1
Application number	US-202016995958-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 18, 2020
Priority date	Aug 21, 2019
Publication date	Feb 25, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A polymer composition comprising a dielectric material distributed within a polymer matrix is provided. The dielectric material has a volume resistivity of from about 0.1 ohm-cm to about 1×1012 ohm-cm, wherein the polymer matrix contains at least one thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer, and further wherein the polymer composition exhibits a dielectric constant of about 4 or more and a dissipation factor of about 0.3 or less, as determined at a frequency of 2 GHz.

First claim

1 . A polymer composition comprising a dielectric material distributed within a polymer matrix, wherein the dielectric material has a volume resistivity of from about 0.1 ohm-cm to about 1×10 12 ohm-cm, wherein the polymer matrix contains at least one thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer, and further wherein the polymer composition exhibits a dielectric constant of about 4 or more and a dissipation factor of about 0.3 or less, as determined at a frequency of 2 GHz.

2 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition exhibits a dielectric constant after being exposed to a temperature cycle of from about −30° C. to about 100° C., wherein the ratio of the dielectric constant after the temperature cycle to the dielectric constant prior to the heat cycle is about 0.8 or more.

3 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition exhibits a dissipation factor after being exposed to a temperature cycle of from about −30° C. to about 100° C., wherein the ratio of the dissipation factor after the temperature cycle to the dissipation factor prior to the heat cycle is about 1.3 or less.

4 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition exhibits a dissipation factor after being exposed to a temperature cycle of from about −30° C. to about 100° C., wherein the ratio of the dissipation factor after the temperature cycle to the dissipation factor prior to the heat cycle is about 1.0 or less.

5 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material contains an inorganic oxide material.

6 . The polymer composition of claim 5 , wherein the inorganic oxide material includes titanium dioxide particles.

7 . The polymer composition of claim 5 , wherein the inorganic oxide material includes inorganic oxide whiskers.

8 . The polymer composition of claim 7 , wherein the whiskers are zinc oxide whiskers.

9 . The polymer composition of claim 7 , wherein the whiskers have a central body and a plurality of needle crystals extending radially therefrom.

10 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material includes an inorganic oxide material having a volume resistivity of from 0.1 ohm-cm to about 500 ohm-cm.

11 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material includes a carbon material having a volume resistivity of from about 1×10 3 to about 1×10 12 ohm-cm.

12 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material includes an electrically conductive material having a volume resistivity of less than about 0.1 ohm-cm and an insulative material having a volume resistivity of greater than about 1×10 12 ohm-cm.

13 . The polymer composition of claim 12 , wherein the electrically conductive material includes a carbon material and the insulative material includes an inorganic oxide material.

14 . The polymer composition of claim 13 , wherein ratio of the weight percentage of the inorganic oxide material to the weight percentage of the carbon material is from about 3 to about 100.

15 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermotropic crystalline polymer is an aromatic polyester that contains repeating units derived from 4-hydroxybenzoic acid.

16 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer has a total amount of repeating units derived from naphthenic hydroxycarboxylic and/or naphthenic dicarboxylic acids of about 10 mol. % or more.

17 . The polymer composition of claim 16 , wherein the thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer has a total amount of repeating units derived from naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid of about 10 mol. % or more.

18 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition further comprises a laser activatable additive.

19 . The polymer composition of claim 18 , wherein the laser activatable additive contains spinel crystals having the following general formula:
AB 2 O 4 wherein, A is a metal cation having a valance of 2; and B is a metal cation having a valance of 3.

20 . The polymer composition of claim 19 , wherein the spinel crystals include MgAl 2 O 4 , ZnAl 2 O 4 , FeAl 2 O 4 , CuFe 2 O 4 , CuCr 2 O 4 , MnFe 2 O 4 , NiFe 2 O 4 , TiFe 2 O 4 , FeCr 2 O 4 , MgCr 2 O 4 , or a combination thereof.

21 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition further comprises a fibrous filler.

22 . The polymer composition of claim 21 , wherein the fibrous filler includes glass fibers.

23 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition has a melt viscosity of from about 5 to about 100 Pa-s, as determined at a shear rate of 1,000 seconds- and a temperature of 350° C.

24 . The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises from about 15 wt. % to about 85 wt. % of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers and from about 10 wt. % to about 70 wt. % of the dielectric material.

25 . A molded part that comprises the polymer composition of claim 1 .

26 . The molded part of claim 25 , wherein one or more conductive elements are formed on a surface of the part.

27 . An antenna system that comprises a substrate that includes the polymer composition of claim 1 and at least one antenna element configured to transmit and receive radio frequency signals, wherein the antenna element is coupled to the substrate.

28 . The antenna system of claim 27 , wherein the radio frequency signals are 5G signals.

29 . The antenna system of claim 27 , wherein the at least one antenna element has a feature size that is less than about 1,500 micrometers.

30 . The antenna system of claim 27 , wherein the at least one antenna element comprises a plurality of antenna elements.

31 . The antenna system of claim 30 , wherein the plurality of antenna elements are spaced apart by a spacing distance that is less than about 1,500 micrometers.

32 . The antenna system of claim 30 , wherein the plurality of antenna elements comprise at least 16 antenna elements.

33 . The antenna system of claim 30 , wherein the plurality of antenna elements are arranged in an array.

34 . The antenna system of claim 33 , wherein the array is configured for at least 8 transmission channels and at least 8 reception channels.

35 . The antenna system of claim 33 , wherein the array has an average antenna element concentration of greater than 1,000 antenna elements per square centimeter.

36 . The antenna system of claim 27 , further comprising a base station, and wherein the base station comprises the at least one antenna element.

37 . The antenna system of claim 27 , further comprising at least one of a user computing device or a repeater, and wherein the at least one of the user computing device or the repeater base station comprises the at least one antenna element.

Assignees

• Ticona Llc

Inventors

• Kim Young Shin

Classifications

• H01Q1/241

  used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM (H01Q1/247, H01Q1/248 take precedence) · CPC title

• C08K2201/001

  Conductive additives · CPC title

• C08K2003/2296

  of zinc · CPC title

• C08K2003/2251

  of chromium · CPC title

• C08K2003/2241

  Titanium dioxide · CPC title