Characterisation and optimisation study on the shielding effectiveness of carbon nanotube-based electromagnetic shields

Abstract

As devices becomes smaller due to the push toward faster and more energy efficient circuit designs, the amount of board space occupied by electromagnetic (EM) shield take up an ever-increasing proportion of a printed circuit board (PCB) design. This is due to the limitation of conventional metallic fences being unable to conform to the high aspect ratio of the smaller board designs as well as the limited shielding effectiveness provided by the thinner shields. Thus, one promising material for a new, more effective EM shield is carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNTs have the potential to be the alternative material for high frequency EM shielding due to its negligible skin effect and has shown to have superior shielding characteristics whilst being less dense than conventional metallic fences.

This project focuses on characterising the shielding effectiveness of CNT based, board level EM shields as compared to conventional shielding materials. The electromagnetic properties in the microwave region will be investigated and discussed.