Printed Circuit Boards

The primary reason for having your boards delivered in an array is to make automated assembly faster and less expensive. Running an array of boards through a pick-and-place machine is far more efficient than sending them through one at a time.

What is the difference between Controlled Dielectric and Controlled Impedance regarding PCB fabrication? The purpose of controlling dielectric or impedance is essentially the same, to achieve a target impedance on one or more signal lines on a printed circuit board.

There are many reasons a printed circuit board designer might want to have a via tented, plugged or filled. First, let's start with defining these terms since they can be frequently misused and misunderstood.

A countersink is a cone shaped hole cut into the laminate. It is typically used to allow the tapered head of a screw to sit flush with the top of the laminate. By comparison, a counterbore makes a flat-bottomed hole and its sides are drilled straight.

Solder Mask is a protective coating applied to the bare printed circuit board. Bare boards are covered with mask to prevent accidental solder bridging during assembly and to help protect the board from the environment.

The most common unit of measure for the copper thickness on a printed circuit board is ounces (oz). But how thick is that? It's the resulting thickness when 1 oz of copper is pressed flat and spread evenly over a one square foot area.

Standard Dielectric Stack diagrams for 4- to 10-layer boards from .8mm to 3.2mm

Essentially they are the same thing and many engineers use the terms interchangeably. Technically, the term "via" should be used when the hole is used to pass signal to another layer of your board and not for mounting a thru-hole component.

There are many factors to consider when selecting a final finish for your printed circuit board. Below is a consolidated list of popular finishes and their general characteristics.

When we receive artwork for a printed circuit board, many things are checked and adjusted to ensure the board is fabricated as closely as possible to the original design. If we notice something that appears unusual, we'll hold the order and question the designer's intent.

We don't need much information to manufacture a bare printed circuit board. Often, all we receive are the digital Gerber files showing the copper layers, solder mask, silk screen and a drill file.

At PCB Prime, we can accept a variety of file formats to manufacture or assemble your printed circuit board. A list of accepted formats is listed below.