Elementary Mr. Watson: Ensuring a Smooth Handoff From PCB Design to Fabrication
The Shaughnessy Report: Breaking Down the Language Barrier
Connect the Dots: Designing for Reality—Routing, Final Fab, and QC
A Definitive Review of New Expert Guide to High-Performance Materials
April 13, 2022 | Happy Holden, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
I am always surprised when a colleague produces a statement about PCB laminates that seems incorrect or out of date. This need not happen today as the specialists at Isola have written an excellent book about high performance materials, now available for download from I-Connect007.
Author Michael Gay, a 25-year veteran of laminate manufacturing, meticulously guides readers through the most pertinent questions regarding rigid laminates. This is essential information for everyone, including the experts, because the materials and applications for laminates in printed circuits are constantly changing. Fortunately, Michael focuses on the basics of high-performance materials being used in today’s printed circuit boards.
And Isola should know. The company has been making high-performance and advanced materials for the electronics industry since 1956, remaining among only a handful of companies producing these materials. As the basis for all printed circuit boards, laminate is the major cost driver for PCBs and determines much of its electrical performance. To understand and design printed circuits, you first must understand the PCB materials.
In The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… High Performance Materials, Michael first provides a brief history of laminates in this industry. He then proceeds to deliver a thorough education of laminates. But what does that look like?
It starts with resin systems (there are many), while including the role of fillers (again, many) and flame retardants. Next are the reinforcements, especially glass fabrics which must include the types of glass—glass styles, glass weaves, and glass constructions (i.e., spread glass). This is followed by how you use the prepregs (glass fabrics impregnated with resin and partially cured) and multilayer material constructions. Topics like “range of fill capabilities,” “dielectric properties,” and “stackup advice”—including calculating impedances—come into the picture.
Add copper foil, the final element to prepreg, and you have a rigid laminate. But all copper foils are not created equal, so the author covers surface treatments and roughness, especially for high-frequency skin effect.
This book concludes with more information about electrical performance and, particularly, the growing automotive use of laminates when voltages and currents are particularly high but subjected to the environmental extremes that automobiles will see.
This is where you must start, but not where you will end. Visit the I-007 eBook library to find other titles in The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… series covering PCB materials for flex, rigid-flex, and more on electrical performance.
Happy Holden has worked in printed circuit technology since 1970 with Hewlett-Packard,?NanYa?Westwood, Merix, Foxconn, and Gentex. He is currently a contributing technical editor with I-Connect007, and the author?of?Automation and Advanced Procedures in PCB Fabrication, and?24 Essential Skills for Engineers.?To read past columns or contact Holden, click here.?
Share on:
Suggested Items
ICT Spring Seminar: Nickel Not Welcome Here
03/12/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007After a miserable, dull, and damp English winter, a really pleasant nearly spring day with the sun shining and daffodils in bloom greeted delegates to the Institute of Circuit Technology Spring Seminar at Puckrup Hall near Tewkesbury, March 5, in Gloucestershire, UK.
Multicircuits Expands Capabilities with State-of-the-Art Automated Copper Via Fill Process
03/10/2025 | MulticircuitsMike Thiel, president of Multicircuits, a leading provider of high-reliability printed circuit boards, has announced the addition of a state-of-the-art automated copper via fill process to their advanced manufacturing capabilities. This strategic investment enhances the company’s ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions for demanding industries, including aerospace, defense, medical, and high-speed telecommunications.
EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Day 2: A Roadmap to Material Selection
02/20/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007The EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Feb. 4-5, in Luxembourg City, featured keynotes and two days of conference proceedings. The keynote session and first-day conference proceedings are reported separately. Here is my review of the second day’s conference proceedings. Delegates dutifully assembled bright and early, well-rested and eager to participate in the second day’s proceedings of the EIPC Winter Conference in Luxembourg.
Designers Notebook: Addressing Future Challenges for Designers
02/06/2025 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board is and will probably continue to be the base platform for most electronics. With the proliferation of new generations of high I/O, fine-pitch surface mount semiconductor package variations, circuit interconnect is an insignificant factor. Circuit board designers continually face challenges such as component quantity and complexity, limited surface area, and meeting the circuit board’s cost target. The printed circuit design engineer’s prominent position demands the development of efficiently manufacturable products that perform without compromise.
DesignCon 2025, Day 2: It’s All About AI
01/30/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007It’s hard to get away from the topic of artificial intelligence, but why would you? It’s everywhere and in everything, and my time attending presentations about AI at DesignCon 2025 was well worth it. The conference’s agenda featured engaging presentations and discussions focused on the technological advancements in AI, big data centers, and memory innovations, emphasizing the critical relationship between processors and circuit boards.