Contents
Design of PCB Stack-up
A PCB stack-up is the foundational substrate on which all design components of a printed circuit board are assembled.
A poorly designed PCB stack-up with inappropriately chosen materials can negatively impact critical aspects, such as power delivery, signal transmission, manufacturability, and the long-term reliability of the finished product.
If you’re seeking printed circuit boards that will perform reliably without failure, it’s essential to work with professionals. Partnering with a company skilled in designing your ideal PCB stack-up—customized to your desired layer count and using high-quality materials—can make all the difference.
For comprehensive circuit board manufacturing, collaborating with experienced professionals ensures that your stack-up design meets both functional and durability standards.
Copper Trace
Copper is the standard material used to create traces in printed circuit board manufacturing. In a PCB, several layers are essential, including the solder mask, substrate, silkscreen, and various marks.
Traces stand out as some of the most crucial elements. They carry electrical signals to different components across the PCB, enabling it to function correctly. Without well-placed traces, a printed circuit board simply won’t perform as intended.
In the design phase of a PCB, copper becomes a critical choice for making these traces. As a designer, it’s recommended to prioritize copper for your traces. But why is copper the preferred material?
The primary reason is its high conductivity. Copper can efficiently transmit signals without significant electricity loss, ensuring reliable performance. Moreover, only small amounts of copper are necessary to achieve this, meaning manufacturers don’t need to use large quantities, making it a practical and efficient choice.
Via Type
When it comes to circuit board manufacturing, the via that you choose matters a lot. Vias are used to thermally and electronically join pads, traces, and polygons on different layers of a printed circuit board. They are copper cylinders formed or placed in holes that get drilled on a printed circuit board—the type of via that a manufacturer chooses to use matters a lot.
There are three basic types of vias that include blind vias, buried vias, and through vias. Blind vias connect an interior layer to an exterior layer, while buried vias act by connecting two internal layers. Lastly, through vias, connect two outer layers. The type of via to use will depend on the sheets that your board needs. For simple two-layer boards, you may need to use a through via, but for boards with more than two layers, as a manufacturer, you may have to use blind or buried vias in your design, though at increased costs.
Design Documentation
Plenty of printed circuit board manufacturers, even China correct PCB service provider. Thankfully, there are various PCB manufacturing firms, find documenting their entire design process to be tedious. These manufacturers find this process to be somewhat inconvenient at times. However, design documentation is an essential process that ends up being one of the most critical steps in coming up with a great product.
The printed circuit board design is no exception, and designers have to ensure that they document the right information in the right way. This way, they can manufacture a product that will successfully function as desired. Some of the most vital things that need documentation for successful manufacturing include the bill of materials, manufacturing data, electronic schematics, and other identifying characteristics.
The setting of the Direction
As a manufacturer, it is essential to ensure that you can orient all similar components in the same direction, especially in evenly arranged columns and rows. Doing this makes it easy to install, inspect, and test all the placed parts with a lot of ease. The direction setting is critical, especially if you are dealing with SMDs or Surface Mount components. For instance, by placing us in the same direction, there’ll be no mistakes made, especially when it comes to soldering and inspecting the board. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to assemble a board with all the ICs facing the wrong direction. Whenever possible, ensure that you keep polarized components pointed in the same direction.
Signal Integrity and RF Issues
One of the most fundamental challenges associated with high-speed PCB board manufacturing is signal integrity. For a long, loss of signal integrity with printed circuit board units has been an ongoing concern with most PCB manufacturers. Therefore, it is essential to keep in mind matters to do with signal integrity, especially when manufacturing printed circuit boards.
In addition to other transmission issues, to minimize the potential problems related to signal integrity, it is essential to ensure that a PCB supplier of your choice provides printed circuit boards with durable designs. Besides signal integrity, designers of printed circuit boards or RF need to select or use laminate materials that are appropriate for the project at hand. The basis of your choice should meet the electrical needs of the RF circuit, such as loss rate and signal speeds, among others.
Thermal Issues
With an increasing demand for power-hungry devices lately, trying to avoid your product’s thermal problems is becoming as vital as it has ever been before. Problems could arise in three different areas, namely in thermal relief (the path of heat dissipation during printed circuit board assembly), solder parts (the temperature at the solder joint of your component), and thermal stress (repeated heating or excessive heat). Fortunately, there are specific printed circuit board thermal design actions that one can use to mitigate or handle these potential areas of problem. With the right thermal management techniques or practices, you’ll keep yourself and your board fresh as you go ahead in designing the next revolutionary products.
The Importance of Testing
Printed circuit boards find substantial use in several electronic components and technologies, an aspect that makes them some of the most valuable devices. Whether it’s a mobile device, computer, or any other sophisticated machinery, printed circuit boards are responsible for how the device functions. If some defects occur while manufacturing them, they can bring about malfunctions with the final product and bring about inconveniences. Even when it comes to electronic contract manufacturing, manufacturers may have to recall their devices and spend additional time and other resources towards fixing the malfunctions.
This is one reason why a majority of printed circuit board developers turn to PCB designers and manufacturers for testing. Testing is one of the most critical stages in the manufacturing process of PCBs. Without trial, PCBs may reach the final consumers with errors and problems ignored during the production phase. However, to minimize the chance of failure while maintaining customer satisfaction, it is essential to ensure the implementation of testing procedures. This way, manufacturers will ensure that the PCB and its entire components function as desired.
PCB Layout Issues
Printed circuit boards are essential components of a majority of electrical devices that we commonly use today. However, when it comes to customs electronics, PCB layout issues during the manufacturing process, such as over-etching or drilling errors, can be catastrophic. Other PCB layout issues include plating voids, insufficient copper-to-edge clearance, missing solder masks between the pads, and starved thermals. Luckily enough, we at WellPCB are all aware of PCB layout issues, why they occur, and how we can help you avoid them.
Summary
Printed circuit boards are essential components that power a majority of electronic components and plenty of other equipment that we use today. However, when it comes to the manufacture of printed circuit boards, there are some essential considerations that manufacturers need to be aware of at all times. We at WellPCB have highlighted for you 9 of the essential points to note regarding the manufacture of printed circuit boards. With the above, rest assured of coming with a board that functions as desired.
