Hybrid PCB is also known as mixed material lamination, it’s normally combined by two different material like FR4 and PI(rigid flex PCB), FR4 and Ceramic, FR4 and Teflon, FR4 and Aluminum base etc.

The challenge to manufacture the Hybrid PCB is managing the different coefficient of thermal expansion properties of the dissimilar circuit materials both during PCB manufacturing and component assembly.

Hybrid PCB with a combination of FR4 material and PTFE material allows a designer to condense both RF functionality and RF functionality on the same PCB which can reduce both the footprint of the device and the cost.

When producing a printed circuit board with dissimilar materials it’s critically important to have experience in both the physical properties of the laminate and the capabilities of your equipment. Based upon the CTE values of all of the layers of material(ex FR4, PTFE and Copper), each material grows at a different rate during elevated thermal exposure. This can cause significant registration issues as one material shrinks while another one expands and it can also cause delamination of the copper-to substrate interfaces. Therefore, not all materials should be used in hybrid applications as they are not manufacturable regardless of the desired performance.

Hybrid constructions typically involve a low loss material such as Nelco or Rogers combined with another core material like FR4, the details include FR4 and Rogers4350B, FR4 and Rogers 4003C, FR4 and Aluminum base etc.