Basic of PCB

Connectivity in Electronic Equipment Connectivity in Electronic Equipment Connectivity in Electronic Equipment Connectivity in Electronic Equipment
Electronic equipment is a combination of electrical and electronic components connected to
produce a certain designed function.
In the era of vacuum tubes and even later, electronic equipment was constructed by hand wiring
and by point-to-point soldering. The wires were stripped of their insulation, tinned and
soldered. Each discrete component was installed by hand, electrically and mechanically.
The equipment was obviously large, awkward and bulky. It was difficult to meet the demanding
requirements for the use of this equipment in aircrafts, the health sector and home emergency
uses, thereby necessitating the development of smaller and more compact electronic
equipment.
A natural evolution took place in several areas. Smaller components were developed and
modular design became popular, basically intended to decrease the time between unit failure
and repair due to easy replaceability.
Cont...
The use of miniaturization and sub-miniaturization in electronic equipment design gave birth to
a new technique in inter-component wiring and assembly that is popularly known as the printed
circuit board.
The printed circuit board provides both the physical structure for mounting and holding
electronic components as well as the electrical interconnection between components.
Printed circuit board is usually abbreviated as PCB and quite often referred to as board.
However, in the USA, the term PWB (Printed Wiring Board) is more often used instead of PCB.
Advantages of Printed Circuit Boards
1. The size of component assembly is reduced with a corresponding decrease in weight.
2. Quantity production can be achieved at lower unit cost.
3. Component wiring and assembly can be mechanized.
4. Circuit characteristics can be maintained without introducing variation in inter-circuit capacitance.
5. They ensure a high level of repeatability and offer uniformity of electrical characteristics from
assembly to assembly.
6. The location of parts is fixed, which simplifies identification and maintenance of electronic
equipment and systems.
7. Inspection time is reduced because printed circuitry eliminates the probability of error.
8. Printed wiring personnel require minimal technical skills and training. Chances of miswiring or
short-circuited wiring are minimized.
Evolution of Printed Circuit Boards Evolution of Printed Circuit Boards Evolution of Printed Circuit Boards Evolution of Printed Circuit Boards
The history of development of printed circuit boards is not very old. They have been in
commercial use only since the early 1950s, even though their concept originated nearly 50
years prior to their commercial use.
Frank Sprague, the founder of Sprague Electric, while still an apprentice, had the idea, in
1904, of eliminating point-to-point wiring. When he conferred with his mentor, Thomas
Edison, for implementing his concept, it was suggested that silver reduction, as used in
mirror manufacture or the printing of graphite pastes on linen paper, may prove to be
suitable to achieve the objective. Subsequently, a number of pioneering efforts were made
for the development of printed circuit boards, out of which the following events occupy place
of eminence.
Cont...
The first significant contribution came from Mr. Charles Ducas, who filed a patent application at
the US Patent Office on March 2, 1925 for his proposal to mount electrical metal deposits in the
shape of conductors directly onto the insulation material to simplify the construction of
electrical appliances (Fjelstad, 2001). He used a stencil to form the conductors on the surface of
insulation material and applied a conductive paste in the lines desired. After removal of the
stencil, the lines were reinforced to the desired thickness by electrolytic metal deposition This
development considerably simplified the manufacture of electrical appliances because the
electrolytic metal deposition, being a simple process, could be carried out by unskilled
operators.
Cont...
Just 17 days later, Mr. Francis T. Harmann filed a patent for the so-called subtractive method of
making PCBs. This development could be considered as the forerunner of etching technology. In
April 1926, a patent was granted to Mr. Cesar Pasolini in France for his invention of the additive
way of making electrical connections. Mr. Samuel Charles Ryder filed an Australian patent in
September 1928, related to the manufacture of inductance coils for use in radio tuning devices
or other such applications. He proposed to print or spray the substrate directly with conductive
paint during manufacture. Similarly, the patent application filed by Mr. Herbert C. Arlt in July
1935 in America again emphasized the avoidance of wires as the basic purpose of the
development.
Cont...
The major contribution towards the development of modern printed circuit technology was
made by Dr. Paul Eisler, who proposed copper clad insulation material in sheet form for use as
the base material in circuit board manufacture. According to him, a resist in the shape of the
circuit pattern is printed onto the surface of the copper cladding with the uncovered metal being
removed by etching.
He also proposed the generation of conductors on both sides of the copper clad base material,
with connection between conductors on both sides being made through eyelets. Eislers work
not only gave birth to a method of mass production and an assembly scheme but also offered
economy in weight and space, which is especially important in military equipment. Little wonder
that Dr. Eisler is often called the Father of printed circuit board technology. However, he gave
preference to the use of eyelets rather than the plated-through hole technology, which, with
time, became an essential process for the manufacture of double-sided and multi-layer printed
circuit boards.
Cont...
Towards the end of World War II, a technology developed by the US National Bureau of
Standards was used in the volume production of US army VT proximity fuses for rockets. Unlike
the Print and Etch technique of Eisler, this technology used printed silver paste conductors and
graphite resistors that were screen printed onto ceramic substrate. This technique is more
commonly associated with todays hybrid circuit technology. It was this technique that ushered
in the commercial use of printed circuits.
After World War II, fascinating developments took place in the field of electronics, resulting in a
high demand for consumer products like radio and television and simultaneously, the use of
electronics for military applications. These developments resulted in the need for reliable circuit
boards with increasing complexity. After attaining the level of maximum density, based on
contemporary fabrication limitations, single side boards were replaced by double side boards,
which allowed wires to cross over each other without the need for additional special jumpers.
This was accomplished finally by plated-through holes.
Cont...
During 195355, Motorola introduced the copper metal plating process to provide
interconnection between two sides of a board, which was found to be more suitable for the
mass manufacturing process.
In the 1960s, the electroless method was introduced using catalyst activators, while Photo
Circuits, USA, developed the fully additive process in 1964.
In this method, the base material does not have copper on it and the copper is plated selectively
on the required places for interconnections.
Cont...
The late 1960s witnessed phenomenal growth in the field of consumer electronics, which
necessitated the introduction of automation in fabrication and in testing of bare
board/populated circuit boards.
Soon thereafter in the 1970s, printed circuit boards were firmly entrenched in the consumer
electronic, scientific equipment, medical equipment, air and space, defence, and in nearly all
branches of electronics, which later culminated in the personal computer industry.
Several new processes were subsequently developed for applications such as photo film
lamination, dry film and wet film resist, solder masking, legend printing and CNC drilling, etc.
The size of the printed board got considerably reduced with the manufacture of multi-layer and
rigid-flexible circuit boards which made use of buried and blind vias plated through hole
connection and wet process chemistry.
Cont...
New developments in component technology, especially in the area of surface mount
technology, resulted in several innovations in PCB materials and processes, and today there are
constant ressures for improvements in PCB technology in all its aspects.
The continuing trend towards high functionality integrated circuit (IC) components with higher
input-output (I/O) pin counts of the IC packages has resulted in increased demand for fine-
featured PCBs, giving rise to high density interconnect structures (HDIS) which are now
manufactured by a large number of companies.
High frequency electronic systems, with their high speed operations, create a demand for PCBs
with lower electrical losses. In addition, higher operating voltages require PCBs with greater
resistance to voltage breakdown, high voltage tracking and corona.
Cont...
PCBs constitute a very important strategic component for electronic products. It is therefore no
surprise that the PCB industry worldwide is a booming market, and an annual growth rate of 7
per cent is expected in this industry up to the year 2010.
Therefore, printed circuits are likely to continue to be the icon of the electronic industry well
through the next decade, which will of course, bring higher functionality/density, improved cost
and reliability through more tightly controlled cost effective processes.
The subtractive process-based PCB world is likely to have a transition to an additive process. We
can also expect an increase in the use of flexible circuits and a move towards more environment-
friendly PCBs without the use of lead.
Predictably, the various kinds of printed circuit boards, both those that are currently existing and
those to be developed, will retain their function as an essential part of electronics and, in some
cases, may even achieve a more significant place in the electronics industry.
Components of a Printed Circuit Board Components of a Printed Circuit Board Components of a Printed Circuit Board Components of a Printed Circuit Board
The essential components of a printed circuit board are:
1. The base, which is a thin board of insulating material, rigid or flexible, which supports all
conductors and components; and
2. The conductors, normally of high purity copper in the form of thin strips of appropriate
shapes firmly attached to the base material.
Cont...
The base provides mechanical support to all copper areas and all components attached to the
copper. The electrical properties of the completed circuit depend upon the dielectric properties
of the base material and must therefore, be known and appropriately controlled.
The conductors provide not only the electrical connections between components but also
solderable attachment points for the same.
When the completed board provides mechanical support and all necessary electrical
connections to the components, it is essentially a Printed Wiring Board or Printed Circuit Board.
The term printed became popular because the conductive areas are usually generated by means
of a printing process like screen printing or photo-engraving, which are commonly used to print
drawings or inscriptions.
Classification of Printed Circuit Boards Classification of Printed Circuit Boards Classification of Printed Circuit Boards Classification of Printed Circuit Boards
Printed Circuit Boards may be classified according to their various attributes, often with
ambiguous results. They were traditionally divided into three classes according to their use
and applications, and were commonly referred to as consumer, professional and high
reliability boards.
A more simple and understandable classification is now used, which is based on the
number of planes or layers of wiring, which constitute the total wiring assembly or
structures, and to the presence or absence of plated-through holes. This method of
classifying boards has the advantage of being related directly to the board specifications.
Single-sided Printed Circuit Boards
Single-sided means that wiring is available only on one
side of the insulating substrate. The side which contains
the circuit pattern is called the solder side whereas the
other side is called the component side.
These types of boards are mostly used in case of simple
circuitry and where the manufacturing costs are to be kept
at a minimum. Nevertheless, they represent a large
volume of printed boards currently produced for
professional and non-professional grades.
The single-sided boards are manufactured mostly by the print
and etch method or by the diecut
technique by using a die that carries an image of the wiring
pattern; and the die is either photoengraved
or machine-engraved.
Normally, components are used to jump over conductor tracks,
but if this is not possible, jumper
wires are used. The number of jumper wires on a board cannot
be accepted beyond a small number
because of economic reasons, resulting in the requirement for
double-sided boards.
Double-sided Printed Circuit Boards
Double-sided printed circuit boards have wiring
patterns on both sides of the insulating material, i.e.
the circuit pattern is available both on the components
side and the solder side. Obviously, the component
density and the conductor lines are higher than the
single-sided boards.
Two types of double-sided boards are commonly used,
which are:
1. Double-sided board with plated through-hole
connection (PTH); and
2. Double-sided board without plated through-hole
connection (non-PTH).
Cont...
Double-sided PTH board has circuitry on both sides of an insulating substrate, which is
connected by metallizing the wall of a hole in the substrate that intersects the circuitry on
both sides.
This technology, which is the basis for most printed circuits produced, is becoming
popular in cases where the circuit complexity and density is high.
Cont...
Double-sided non-PTH board is only an extension of a single-sided board. Its cost is
considerably lower because plating can be avoided. In this case, through contacts are
made by soldering the component leads on both sides of the board, wherever required.
In the layout design of such boards, the number of solder joints on the component side
should be kept to a minimum to facilitate component removal, if required. It is generally
recommended that conductors should be realized as much as possible on the non-
component side and only the remaining should be placed on the component side.
Cont...
The non-plating technique in double-sided boards is shown in Figure below wherein the
interconnection is made by a jumper wire. A formed insulated solid lead wire is placed
through the hole, clinched and soldered to the conductor pad on each side of the board.
Cont...
Different types of eyelets are also used for double-sided board interconnection.
Multi-layer Boards
The development of plated through-hole technology has led to a
considerable reduction in conductor cross-overs on different
planes, resulting in a reduction in space requirements and
increased packaging density of electronic components.
However, the modern VLSI and other multi-pin configuration
devices have tremendously increased the packaging density and
consequently the concentration of inter-connecting lines.
This has given rise to complex design problems such as noise,
cross-talk, stray capacitances and unacceptable voltage drops
due to parallel signal lines.
These problems could not be satisfactorily solved in single-sided
or double-sided boards, thereby necessitating an extension of
the two-plane approach to the multi-layer circuit board.
A multi-layer board is, therefore, used in situations where the
density of connections needed is too high to be handled by two
layers or where there are other reasons such as accurate control of
line impedances or for earth screening.
The multi-layer board makes use of more than two printed circuit
boards with a thin layer of what is known as prepreg material
placed between each layer, thus making a sandwich assembly as
shown in Figure above.
Cont...
The printed circuit on the top board is similar to a conventional printed circuit board assembly
except that the components are placed much closer to avoid having many terminals, which
necessitates the use of additional board layers for the required interconnections. The electrical
circuit is completed by interconnecting the different layers with plated through-holes, placed
transverse to the board at appropriate places.
Cont...
Multi-layer boards have three or more circuit layers, while some boards have even as many as 50
layers. Figure below shows the details of the two types of multi-layer boards, one with four-layers
and the other with eight-layers.
By virtue of the multi-layer conductor structure, multi-layer printed wiring has facilitated a
reduction in the weight and volume of the interconnections commensurate with the size and
weight of the components it interconnects.
Cont...
The following areas of application necessitate the use of multi-layer printed wiring arrangements:
1. Wherever weight and volume savings in interconnections are the overriding considerations, as in military and
air-borne missile and space applications;
2. When the complexity of interconnection in sub-systems requires complicated and expensive wiring or
harnessing;
3. When frequency requirements call for careful control and uniformity of conductor wave impedances with
minimum distortions and signal propagation, and where the uniformity of these characteristics from board-
to-board is important;
4. When coupling or shielding of a large number of connections is necessary; the high capacitance distributed
between the different layers gives a good de-coupling of power supply which permits satisfactory operation
of high speed circuits;
5. With multi-layers, all interconnections can be placed on internal layers, and a heat sink of thick solid copper
can be placed on the outer surfaces. By mounting the components directly on the metallic surfaces, the
problem of heat distribution and heat removal in systems can be minimized. Also, the layout and artwork
designs are greatly simplified on account of the absence of the supply and ground lines on the signal planes.
Cont...
Because of the developments in mass lamination technology, four-layer boards and even six-
layer boards can be made with almost the same ease as double-sided boards. With the
improvement in reliability and reduction in cost of printed circuit boards, the use of multi-layer
boards is no longer limited to only high technology products, but has spread to some of the
most common applications like entertainment electronics and the toy industry.
The cost of a printed circuit board depends upon its complexity and the technology used. The
next Figure illustrates the relationship between the complexity and cost of printed circuit
boards.
Cont...
Cost of a printed circuit board depends upon
its complexity and on its technology SSIP =
single-sided paper base laminate; SSIE =
single-sided epoxy glass laminate; PTH =
double-sided plated through-hole epoxy glass
laminate; ML = multi-layer; (redrawn after
Ross and Leonida 1996b)
Rigid and Flexible Printed Circuit Boards
Printed circuit boards can also be classified on the basis of the type of insulating material
used, i.e. rigid or flexible. While rigid boards are made of a variety of materials, flexible
boards use flexible substrate material like polyester or polyamide.
The base material, which is usually very thin, is in the range of 0.1 mm thickness. Laminates
used in flexible boards are available with copper on one or both sides in rolls.
Rigid-flex boards, which constitute a combination of rigid and flexible boards usually
bonded together, are three-dimensional structures that have flexible parts connecting the
rigid boards, which usually support components.
This arrangement gives volumetrically efficient packaging and is therefore gaining
widespread use in electronic equipment. Flexible PCBs may be single-sided, double-sided
(PTH or non-PTH) or multi-layer.
Next......
Manufacturing of Basic Printed Circuit Boards