News

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo; President: Yasuhiko Saitoh), has decided to make an investment for the mass production of its new product, the SLK Series of Low Dielectric Constant Thermosetting Resins, which is targeted at meeting the widespread and full-scale growth in demand resulting from the implementation of the next-generation 5G telecommunications standards. The amount of the capital investment is expected to be about ¥3 billion.
Shin-Etsu has been working for some time on promoting the development of products that are very promising for making an investment aimed at contributing to the development of 5G. In December 2019, we announced the launching of new products that feature such superior characteristics as low dielectric constant, high strength and low modulus as well as increasing levels of heat-dissipation characteristics that are sought for 5G-related products, such as Quartz Fabric, Low Dielectric Constant Thermosetting Resins and Heat Dissipation Sheets. The production capacity of SLK Series products that we are setting up this time aims for yearly production of 80 tons in the first stage and for the start of operations in 2021.
The SLK Series consists of resins that have a low dielectric constant close to those of fluorocarbon resins as well as high strength and low modulus. They are developed for applications in a wide variety of smart devices, laminated circuit board, advanced antennas and radar domes, all of which are used for 5G’s super high-frequency band width, and they achieve the lowest level dielectric characteristics in the super high-frequency band (10-80 GHz) with a dielectric constant of less than 2.5 and a dissipation factor of less than 0.002.
Because it has the properties of low moisture uptake and high adhesive strength to low profile copper (low roughness copper foils) as well, it is ideal for usage in such materials areas as FCCl (flexible copper-clad laminates) and adhesives. As a binder for high-speed communication circuit boards and adhesive film, it has received high customers’ evaluations, and this business is expanding smoothly.
Going forward, Shin-Etsu Chemical will continue to work to further advance the development of product applications for the 5G market where expansion is regarded as a certainty, and with the SLK Series as a core, including Quartz Fabric and Heat Dissipation Sheets, we will continue to contribute to the development of the next-generation high-speed communication technologies.

■Reference material

SLK Series of Low Dielectric Constant Thermosetting Resins