Influence of Conformal Coatings on the EMC Performance of a Printed Circuit Board

Conformal coatings are often applied to printed circuit boards to protect the board and its components from environmental factors like moisture, chemicals, and vibration. The impact of a conformal coating on crosstalk and radiated emissions was studied in the following paper. Two coating materials were characterized in terms of their permittivity and permeability. The impact of the conformal coating was evaluated based on the crosstalk between microstrip traces, the radiated emissions from a switch-mode power supply (SMPS), and on coupling from an EMI filter to nearby components. The coatings increased crosstalk between microstrip traces by up to 5 ~ 6 dB, and increased radiated emissions from the SMPS by up to 8 dB. While the coating did not affect the performance of the EMI filter, a 5.5 dB increase in coupling was observed from the filter to nearby components. These effects should be considered if pre-compliance testing is performed before the coatings are applied.