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And both the challenges and opportunities ha ve grown as the kind of s ys tems tha t a re
impacted by EMI/RFI ha ve prolifera ted. Fortunatel y for devi ce manufa cturers —and for the
suppliers of electroma gneti c compa tibility (EMC) products —EMI can be shielded to prevent
this performance degra dation. Shielding is often as simple as surrounding sensi ti ve
components —or troublesome emi tters —wi thi n a conducti ve box or other enclosure. The
types of encl osures used incl ude small boxes to cover pa rts of ci rcui t boa rds , conducti ve dips
for indi vidual components , ja cketing or condui ts for wi res and cabling, and the cases or outer
“skins ” of devi ces or a ppliances .
Markets for EMC Materials and Products
EMC ma rkets a re created by two separa te but rela ted goals: keeping external interference
out and keepi ng i nternal signals , whi ch could ca use interference in other devi ces, i n. Certain
“hi gh‐risk” appli cations a re pa rti cula rl y sensi ti ve wi th rega rd to EMC. These include hi gh‐
value manufa cturi ng fa cili ties, such as wafer fa bs, where a high density of equipment is
extremel y sensiti ve to many fa ctors , life‐sus taining or otherwise vulnerable opera tions such as
ai rcraft flight controls and hospi tal equipment, and high‐securi ty opera tions where pri va cy is
cri ti cal and “electroni c ea vesdroppi ng” must be minimi zed, such as banking appli ca tions and
mili ta ry facili ties.
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conjunction wi th the Sma rt‐Gri d rollouts , they will also become both more sensi ti ve to and
more likel y to produce EMI.
The ma terials, products , and s tra tegies used for EMC a re fairl y simila r to those used for ESD
protection to an extent. Both invol ve providing a measure of conducti vi ty to the outer surfa ce
Page | 2
of sensiti ve devi ces or equipment, but they requi re di fferent levels of conducti vi ty. For ESD
protection, cha rges are ca rried to ground and/or resisti vel y dissipated, and ca n
a ccommoda te—or even require—low levels of surfa ce conducti vi ty. On the other hand, EMI
shielding requi res high mobility of the electrons in the ma terial, meaning much higher
conducti vi ty.
This has impli ca tions for the ma terials used. For coa tings or filled plasti cs , generally a much
la rger quanti ty of conducti ve material must be used for EMC, raising cos ts. And some
ma rginall y conducti ve ma terials used as fillers for ESD ma terials ma y be too resisti ve even in
bulk to be used for EMC ma terials. But the higher conducti vi ty requi rements also open some
new opportuni ties. Some filler ma terials can now be used more comfortabl y within thei r
percolation thresholds , for ins tance, and metal foils and sheets become reasona ble material
options .
Opportunities for EMC Products Are Growing Rapidly
Na noMa rkets believes tha t there a re several trends occurri ng tha t a re leading to i mportant
new opportunities emerging in the EMC indus try. These ha ve to do wi th the quantity,
complexi ty, and use of electroni c devi ces and the components and ma terials wi thin them:
• The shrinking size of electroni c devi ces a nd the components wi thin them is making
EMC more problema tic. The s maller size of the components and their closer proxi mity
to one another makes them more sensi ti ve to the EMI from thei r nei ghbors wi thin the
same devi ce. And the smaller size of the overall devi ce reduces the spa ce a vailable for
EMI shielding s olutions . Simple off‐the‐shelf shielding boxes tha t worked well in the
pas t often cannot do the job toda y because they si mpl y will not fi t. And wi th the
complexi ty of the components a rranged on the boa rds, custom shielding solutions —
wi th added cos t—a re frequentl y requi red.
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• Hi gher radio frequencies a re also becomi ng more common for communi ca tions and
this produces problems on two levels. For one, the potential vi cti ms of these higher
frequencies need to be protected by shielding tha t is capable of dampening such high
frequencies. Also, the equipment tha t sends and recei ves these frequencies mus t be
able to block the lower frequencies while recei ving the i ntended ba nd. Page | 3
• EMI is hi ghl y regula ted by government a gencies throughout the world. Thus aside
from the a ctual performance of the devi ces and thei r impa ct on—and from—other
devi ces , addi tional EMC requi rements ma y be present because of the regulations . In
fa ct, EMC regula tion has been the dri vi ng force of an enti re indus try segment—tes ting
and certifi ca tion of products for electroma gneti c compa tibili ty. While the goals a re
similar in the va rious geographies a round the globe, there a re differences tha t can
impact the EMC approa ches used in manufa cturi ng for di fferent ta rget geographies.
EMC Materials and Products: The Shift to Polymers and Nanomaterials
Beca use of thei r high conducti vi ty, metals ha ve his tori call y domina ted the EMC indus try and
they continue to domina te i t. These include metal shields for ci rcui t boa rds and wi res ,
enclosures for electroni c devi ces , and ca binets all the wa y up to whole rooms and even enti re
buildings . However, as we ha ve al ready noted, there is a defini te trend in reducing metals
usage in manufa cturing in order to reduce cos t and wei ght. This is especially true for the
la rges t devi ce pa rts , such as the case or devi ce enclosure.
As a resul t, ma terials fi rms ha ve long been on the lookout for new ma terials tha t can genera te
profi ts for them i n the EMC sector. Ma terials that ha ve been tes ted or used in this sector
include conducti ve pol ymers , TCOs , and ca rbon ma terials:
• Ca rbon nanotubes can be used for EMC applica tions in s mall quanti ties and a re not
inherentl y expensive; thei r current high cost is due to their newness . Ca rbon
nanotubes (some of them a nywa y) a re more conducti ve than any metal and a re easil y
ma de into di ffusely dispersed suspensions. Ca rbon nanotube coa tings or filled
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pol ymers ca n offer an interpenetra ting conducti ve network tha t produces a Fa rada y
cage wi th minimal qua ntities of ma terial. And as graphene develops and can be
produced more easil y, it too will find i ts ini tial appli ca tions , and perha ps appli ca tions
using graphene as an EMC ma terial will be among those.
Page | 4
• Conducti ve pol ymers like PEDOT: PSS ha ve proved sui table for some EMC appli ca tions .
However, they ha ve not come down in pri ce as rapidl y as hoped. Still, they a re flexible
and often transpa rent, especiall y i n thin la yers , and offer the likelihood of l ow cos t
wi thin the next several yea rs. All of these fea tures a re a ttra cti ve i n certain EMC
appli ca tions
• Other nanoma terials used for EMC coa tings include metals, mos tl y sil ver. The small
size of nanopa rti cles offers the potential to use such small amounts of metals tha t
even an expensive metal like sil ver is not cos t prohibi ti ve. (This potential has not yet
been realized because of the s till high cos t of nanoma terial manufa cturing.)
Na nosil ver has recei ved most of the a ttention for conducti ve applica tions because i t is
so much more conducti ve than any of the other nanometals under a ctual use
condi tions —largel y because sil ver’s oxi de, unlike those of other metals, is
conducti ve—but EMC does not require as hi gh a level of conducti vi ty as do other
nanometal a pplica tions like electrodes , so other metals ma y also come into pla y.
These newer ma terials a re a mong the most exci ting devel opments in a field tha t has been
otherwise fai rl y ma ture for many yea rs .
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