PCB Design and Manufacture

PCB stands for Printed Circuit Board, which mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components. It does this by using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive platform. The process involved in PCB design and manufacture includes the following steps: front-end data preparation, preparing the phototools, printing inner layers, etch inner layers, register punch and AOI, lay-up and bond, drilling the PCB, electroless copper deposition, image the outer layers, plating, etch out outer layers, apply soldermask, RoHS-compliant surface finishes, Plated gold edge connectors, Silk-screen and cure, Electrical test, Profiling. -V-cut scoring, and final check. PCBs are used in all elements of an electronic nature, from computers, printers, televisions, stereos, musical instrument amplifiers and synthesisers, digital clocks, microwave ovens, telephone answering machines and even mobile phones.