PCB Materials
Rogers 4003C PCB Laminate
Ultra-low-loss RF laminate: Dk 3.38, Df 0.0027 at 10 GHz.
Rogers RO4003C is a glass-reinforced hydrocarbon/ceramic laminate with a dielectric constant of 3.38 ±0.05 at 10 GHz and a dissipation factor of 0.0027 at 10 GHz. It offers the lowest loss in the Rogers RO4000 family while maintaining full compatibility with standard FR-4 fabrication processes. Rogers 4003C is specified for RF and microwave applications where loss performance matters more than material cost — antenna feed networks, filter banks, low-noise amplifier matching circuits and precision coupler designs.
Rogers 4003C vs 4350B
The primary difference between Rogers 4003C and 4350B is dissipation factor: 0.0027 vs 0.0037 at 10 GHz. This 0.001 difference translates to approximately 0.1-0.2 dB per inch less insertion loss at 10 GHz, which becomes meaningful in designs with long trace runs, cascaded filter stages or tight noise figure budgets. For a 6-inch microstrip feed line, the cumulative loss difference is approximately 0.6-1.2 dB — potentially significant in a receiver front end but negligible in a short interconnect.
Rogers 4003C costs more than 4350B and is available in fewer standard thicknesses. For most RF designs below 20 GHz with moderate trace lengths, 4350B provides adequate performance at lower cost. Specify 4003C when link budget analysis confirms that the additional loss reduction is needed to meet the system noise figure, gain flatness or output power requirement.
Electrical properties
The dielectric constant of 3.38 is stable across temperature (TCDk +40 ppm/°C) and frequency (within 2% from 1 to 50 GHz). Moisture absorption is 0.06%, ensuring stable Dk under humidity cycling — important for outdoor and automotive applications. The low Dk compared to FR-4 (4.0-4.5) results in wider traces for a given impedance target, which reduces resistive loss and eases fabrication tolerance sensitivity.
Applications
Base station antenna feeds, satellite communication LNBs, automotive radar (24 GHz and 77 GHz feed networks), GPS and GNSS receiver front ends, point-to-point radio IF and RF stages, and test and measurement instrument RF sections. Rogers 4003C is also used in hybrid stackups where the RF layers require ultra-low loss and the digital layers use FR-4 to control cost.
Fabrication
Like Rogers 4350B, RO4003C processes on standard FR-4 fabrication equipment. No special drilling, plating or handling is required. AstroPCB stocks RO4003C in standard core thicknesses and builds both all-Rogers and hybrid stackups with controlled impedance to ±8%.
Request a Rogers 4003C quote
Upload your design files, specify Rogers 4003C and include impedance targets. The engineering team will confirm material availability and build your stackup.