Steve, When speaking to PCB vendors, they typically refer to surface roughness as "toothing profile", and most PCB manufacturers are able to select a particular toothing profile from their material vendor(s). From cross sections of actual boards, peak-to-peak surface roughness is in the range of 7 to 18 microns for common PCBs. If you're interested in reading bit more on surface roughness, I suggest obtaining/reading a copy of: TITLE Effect of Surface Roughness on Eddy Current Losses at Microwave Frequencies AUTHOR Samuel P. Morgan, Jr. SOURCE Journal of Applied Physics VOLUME 20 DATE April, 1949 PAGES 352-362 The paper takes an analytical approach to determining the loss in a conductor due to surface roughness with different profiles (e.g., sawtooth, square, etc.) and shows that surface roughness can sometimes double the loss when compared to a smooth conductor. Pat > Hello all, > > I am trying to find out value for the roughness of PCB traces on the > substrate side of the track. > As I understand it, a level of roughness is essential in > order that the > metal bonds mechanically with the substrate material. However > I do wonder > how much this rougness effects the Resistance of the trace at high > frequencies. Some recent experiments I have carried out > suggest that it may > be quite significant. The skin depth is half the solution (I > think), but I > need some idea of how 'rough' typical surfaces are in order > to get some idea > of losses? > > All suggestions on this one are welcome > > Many thanks in advance > > Steve Rogers ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list Old list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu