-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueEngineering Economics
The real cost to manufacture a PCB encompasses everything that goes into making the product: the materials and other value-added supplies, machine and personnel costs, and most importantly, your quality. A hard look at real costs seems wholly appropriate.
Alternate Metallization Processes
Traditional electroless copper and electroless copper immersion gold have been primary PCB plating methods for decades. But alternative plating metals and processes have been introduced over the past few years as miniaturization and advanced packaging continue to develop.
Technology Roadmaps
In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we discuss technology roadmaps and what they mean for our businesses, providing context to the all-important question: What is my company’s technology roadmap?
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
Made in Brazil: The Evolution and Revolution of Impedance Control in PCB Production
July 21, 2016 | Renato Peres, Circuibras Circuitos Impressos ProfissionaisEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The PCB industry in Brazil has gone through several changes over the last decade. Our customers have been demanding better quality and higher-reliability products more than ever before, but few things have changed as much as impedance control. PCBs with impedance control requirements have become the engine of the market, and finding solutions to fit the customer’s needs is extremely challenging.
Ten years ago, the Brazilian PCB industry was a little vague on this subject, and very few PCB shops were doing impedance testing. About five years ago, with the evolution of the national PCB industry, customers started producing prototypes requiring impedance control and the market started to develop. However, it seemed to me that neither the customers nor the PCB shops really knew what to order and to deliver at that time.
There always were differences between the specs for the board, the coupon measured, and the simulation software. As a best practice, many PCB shops used to appeal to a cross-section analysis to verify the PCB build up. In the end, impedance simulation software was more reliable than the TDR measurements.
I remember I felt a bit normal last year when I read the article written by Dan Beaulieu and Bob Tarzwell for The PCB Design Magazine, "Controlled Impedance: A Real-World Look at the PCB Side." Coupons that don’t fit the specs of the customers, cross-section analyses, differences in resin flow during lamination, copper thickness variation, and many other issues described in the article were very similar to the problems we faced daily.
Nevertheless, the industry in Brazil has gone further, pressing the suppliers to develop new controls, not yet usual to the national market.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the July 2016 issue of The PCB Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Growth Unfolds: The First of STARTEAM’s Trio of Factories Set to Expand
12/05/2024 | STARTEAM GLOBALSTARTEAM is thrilled to share news of our upcoming 3-step expansion at JST, with each step adding 50,000m² per month which began on May 27, 2024. This carefully planned extension is designed to significantly increase our production capacity and expand our talented team. Currently, our production space covers 30,000m². Through this expansion, we are setting our sights on incrementally increasing our capacity from 70,000m²/month to a remarkable 130,000m²/month.
Connect the Dots: Designing for Reality: Strip-Etch-Strip
12/05/2024 | Matt Stevenson -- Column: Connect the DotsIn the previous episode of I-Connect007’s On the Line with… podcast, we focused on pattern plating. At this point, we are close to completing our boards and ready for the strip-etch-strip (SES) process. By this stage of the manufacturing process, we have laminated all the internal layers together, drilled the through-holes, applied the image to the external layers through photoresist, plated the copper in those channels to beef up the copper thickness for traces, pads, and through-holes, added a layer of electrolytic tin over the top of that copper to protect it during subsequent stages of production.
Fresh PCB Concepts: PCB Design Essentials for Electric Vehicle Charging
11/27/2024 | Team NCAB -- Column: Fresh PCB ConceptsElectric vehicles (EVs), powered by electricity rather than fossil fuels, are transforming transportation and reducing environmental impacts. But what good is an EV if it can't be easily charged? In this month's column, Ramon Roche dives into the role of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electric vehicle charging (EVC)—and the design considerations.
Unlocking Advanced Circuitry Through Liquid Metal Ink
10/31/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamPCB UHDI technologist John Johnson of American Standard Circuits discusses the evolving landscape of electronics manufacturing and the critical role of innovation, specifically liquid metal ink technology, as an alternate process to traditional metallization in PCB fabrication to achieve ever finer features and tighter tolerances. The discussion highlights the benefits of reliability, efficiency, and yields as a tradeoff to any increased cost to run the process. As this technology becomes better understood and accepted, even sought out by customers and designers, John says there is a move toward mainstream incorporation.
Fresh PCB Concepts: The Critical Nature of Copper Thickness on PCBs
10/31/2024 | Team NCAB -- Column: Fresh PCB ConceptsPCBs are the backbone of modern electronics and the copper layers within these boards serve as the primary pathways for electrical signals. When designing and manufacturing PCBs, copper thickness is one of the most critical factors and significantly affects the board’s performance and durability. The IPC-6012F specification, the industry standard for the performance and qualification of rigid PCBs, sets clear guidelines on copper thickness to ensure reliability in different environments and applications.