What is a metal type?

A metal type specifies the metalization loss used by em. Since the metalization loss is unrelated to the level on which a polygon is located, changing the metal type of a polygon does not change the physical location of the polygon. It changes only the metalization loss

The default metal type is Lossless; this is defined for all geometry project files. In addition, you may define as many metal types as desired. All metal types may be used on all levels and multiple metal types may be used on the same level. These metal types may also be used for the box top and bottom.

Each metal type is represented by a different cell fill pattern in the project editor, chosen when you define the metal type.

You choose a default metal type for adding metalization. This is the metal type used for any new polygons added to your circuit. The initial default metal type is Lossless, but you can change the default to a metal type of your choice. It is also possible to change the metal type of a polygon after it has been added to your circuit, for details see How do I change the loss of an existing metal polygon?

There are five types of metal available when you define a new metal type, each with a different set of properties. See the Metal Editor dialog box for details.

The default value for all parameters of the metal type Lossless is zero.