You can set the dielectric constant and loss of a dielectric layer by changing the following parameters in the project editor by selecting the Dielectric Layers page in the Circuit Settings dialog box. Clicking on the Above, Below or Edit button in the Dielectric Layers page opens the Dielectric Editor dialog box which allows you to edit the parameters below.
- Erel: The relative dielectric constant (εr). The ratio (ε/εo), where ε is the real part of the permittivity of the dielectric layer material, and εo is the permittivity of free space. The ratio is dimensionless.
- Dielectric Loss Tan:The dielectric loss tangent. The ratio (ε’’/ε’), where ε = ε’ - jε’’, and ε is the complex permittivity of the dielectric layer material. The ratio is dimensionless.
- Conductivity: Dielectric conductivity, σ, where s is the conductivity of the dielectric. The default unit is S/m. You may define your dielectric loss using conductivity or resistivity. To use conductivity, you should select “Conductivity” from the Specify using drop list.
- Resistivity: Resistivity = 1.0 / conductivity. Resistivity has a default unit of Ohm-cm.You may define your dielectric loss using conductivity or resistivity. To use resistivity, you should select “Resistivity” from the Specify using drop list.
- Mrel: The relative magnetic permeability (μr) of the dielectric layer material.
- Magnetic Loss Tan: The magnetic loss tangent of the dielectric layer material.
One last parameter that may be specified for a dielectric layer is the Z Partitioning. This value may be changed in the Z Partitions dialog box which is opened when you click on the Z Parts button in the Dielectric Layers dialog box.
- Brick Z-Partitions: The z-partitioning parameter is the setting which controls the number of partitions which the dielectric layer is divided into in the z direction. for the dielectric layer. While this parameter is specified in the dielectric layer window, it only has an effect on the dielectric bricks on that layer. Changing this value for a particular layer will have absolutely no affect on the analysis if there are no bricks on the layer. If there are multiple bricks on the layer, the Z subsectioning for all of those bricks will be identical. Note that you may need to click on > Advanced in the dialog box to display this field.
The more partitions (better resolution) used in the Z-dimension, the more accurate the analysis; however, analysis time and memory requirements also increase dramatically.