Measurement of Temperature and Humidity Dependence of Automotive-Grade Interconnects

In this study, the effect of harsh environments on the insertion loss profile of automotive-grade high-speed interconnects was studied. Measurements under three different use conditions were performed to study the effect of humidity and temperature in signal integrity performance. Measurements at nominal conditions were used to extract the insertion loss per inch using two different de-embedding methods. Temperature and humidity variations were applied to three printed circuit board stack-ups fabricated with different base materials and copper foils. The insertion loss was measured for the environment changes and compared between the boards. An increase in the insertion loss profile was observed for temperature and humidity variations in all the boards.