Experiment-in-loop interactive optimization of polymer composites for "5G-and-beyond" communication technologies.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Communication Technology

Background:

• Fifth-generation-and-beyond (5G+) communication technologies require advanced polymer composites.
• Key material properties include low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and low dielectric loss at high frequencies.
• Fabrication complexity and parameter knowledge gaps hinder material development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply experiment-in-loop Bayesian optimization (EiL-BO) for optimizing polymer composite materials.
• To address challenges in high-dimensional parameter spaces for material fabrication.
• To achieve superior material properties for advanced communication applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized state-of-the-art EiL-BO with a Gaussian process and automatic relevance determination kernel.
• Optimized a perfluoroalkoxyalkane matrix composite with silica fillers.
• Managed eight-dimensional parameters including filler morphology, surface chemistry, and processing conditions.

Main Results:

• Achieved a low CTE of 24.7 ppm K⁻¹.
• Obtained an extinction coefficient of 9.5 × 10⁻⁴.
• The optimized composite outperformed existing polymeric materials.

Conclusions:

• EiL-BO is highly effective and versatile for accelerating advanced material development.
• The optimized composite meets the demanding requirements for 5G+ communication technologies.
• This approach overcomes challenges in complex, anisotropic multidimensional optimization spaces.