Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring

board (PWB), is a laminated sandwich structure of conductive
and insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and
other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) etched from one
or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto or between sheet
layers of a non-conductive substrate.[1] PCBs are used to connect
or "wire" components to one another in an electronic circuit.
Electrical components may be fixed to conductive pads on the
outer layers, generally by soldering, which both electrically Printed circuit board of a DVD
connects and mechanically fastens the components to the board. player
Another manufacturing process adds vias, metal-lined drilled
holes that enable electrical interconnections between conductive
layers, to boards with more than a single side.

Printed circuit boards are used in nearly all electronic products

today. Alternatives to PCBs include wire wrap and point-to-point
construction, both once popular but now rarely used. PCBs require
additional design effort to lay out the circuit, but manufacturing
Part of a 1984 Sinclair ZX Spectrum
and assembly can be automated. Electronic design automation
computer board, a printed circuit
software is available to do much of the work of layout. Mass-
board, showing the conductive
producing circuits with PCBs is cheaper and faster than with other traces, the through-hole paths to the
wiring methods, as components are mounted and wired in one other surface, and some electronic
operation. Large numbers of PCBs can be fabricated at the same components mounted using
time, and the layout has to be done only once. PCBs can also be through-hole mounting
made manually in small quantities, with reduced benefits.[2]

PCBs can be single-sided (one copper layer), double-sided (two copper layers on both sides of one
substrate layer), or multi-layer (stacked layers of substrate with copper plating sandwiched between each
and on the outside layers). Multi-layer PCBs provide much higher component density, because circuit
traces on the inner layers would otherwise take up surface space between components. The rise in
popularity of multilayer PCBs with more than two, and especially with more than four, copper planes was
concurrent with the adoption of surface-mount technology. However, multilayer PCBs make repair,
analysis, and field modification of circuits much more difficult and usually impractical.
The world market for bare PCBs exceeded US$60.2 billion in 2014,[3] and was estimated at $80.33
billion in 2024, forecast to be $96.57 billion for 2029, growing at 4.87% per annum.[4]

History

Predecessors
Before the development of printed circuit boards, electrical and electronic circuits were wired point-to-
point on a chassis. Typically, the chassis was a sheet metal frame or pan, sometimes with a wooden
bottom. Components were attached to the chassis, usually by insulators when the connecting point on the
chassis was metal, and then their leads were connected directly or with jumper wires by soldering, or
sometimes using crimp connectors, wire connector lugs on screw terminals, or other methods. Circuits
were large, bulky, heavy, and relatively fragile (even discounting the breakable glass envelopes of the
vacuum tubes that were often included in the circuits), and production was labor-intensive, so the
products were expensive.

Development of the methods used in modern printed circuit boards started early in the 20th century. In
1903, a German inventor, Albert Hanson, described flat foil conductors laminated to an insulating board,
in multiple layers. Thomas Edison experimented with chemical methods of plating conductors onto linen
paper in 1904. Arthur Berry in 1913 patented a print-and-etch method in the UK, and in the United States
Max Schoop obtained a patent[5] to flame-spray metal onto a board through a patterned mask. Charles
Ducas in 1925 patented a method of electroplating circuit patterns.[6]

Predating the printed circuit invention, and similar in spirit, was John Sargrove's 1936–1947 Electronic
Circuit Making Equipment (ECME) that sprayed metal onto a Bakelite plastic board. The ECME could
produce three radio boards per minute.

Early PCBs
The Austrian engineer Paul Eisler invented the printed circuit
as part of a radio set while working in the UK around 1936. In
1941 a multi-layer printed circuit was used in German
magnetic influence naval mines.

Around 1943 the United States began to use the technology on

a large scale to make proximity fuzes for use in World War
II.[6] Such fuzes required an electronic circuit that could
withstand being fired from a gun, and could be produced in
quantity. The Centralab Division of Globe Union submitted a Proximity fuze Mark 53 production line
proposal which met the requirements: a ceramic plate would be 1944
screenprinted with metallic paint for conductors and carbon
material for resistors, with ceramic disc capacitors and
subminiature vacuum tubes soldered in place.[7] The technique proved viable, and the resulting patent on
the process, which was classified by the U.S. Army, was assigned to Globe Union. It was not until 1984
that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) awarded Harry W. Rubinstein its Cledo
Brunetti Award for early key contributions to the development of printed components and conductors on a
common insulating substrate. Rubinstein was honored in 1984 by his alma mater, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, for his innovations in the technology of printed electronic circuits and the
fabrication of capacitors.[8][9] This invention also represents a step in the development of integrated
circuit technology, as not only wiring but also passive components were fabricated on the ceramic
substrate.

Post-war developments
In 1948, the US released the invention for commercial use. Printed circuits did not become commonplace
in consumer electronics until the mid-1950s, after the Auto-Sembly process was developed by the United
States Army. At around the same time in the UK work along similar lines was carried out by Geoffrey
Dummer, then at the RRDE.

Motorola was an early leader in bringing the process into consumer electronics, announcing in August
1952 the adoption of "plated circuits" in home radios after six years of research and a $1M
investment.[10] Motorola soon began using its trademarked term for the process, PLAcir, in its consumer
radio advertisements.[11] Hallicrafters released its first "foto-etch" printed circuit product, a clock-radio,
on November 1, 1952.[12]

Even as circuit boards became available, the point-to-point chassis construction method remained in
common use in industry (such as TV and hi-fi sets) into at least the late 1960s. Printed circuit boards were
introduced to reduce the size, weight, and cost of parts of the circuitry. In 1960, a small consumer radio
receiver might be built with all its circuitry on one circuit board, but a TV set would probably contain one
or more circuit boards.

Originally, every electronic component had wire leads, and a PCB had holes drilled for each wire of each
component. The component leads were then inserted through the holes and soldered to the copper PCB
traces. This method of assembly is called through-hole construction. In 1949, Moe Abramson and
Stanislaus F. Danko of the United States Army Signal Corps developed the Auto-Sembly process in which
component leads were inserted into a copper foil interconnection pattern and dip soldered. The patent
they obtained in 1956 was assigned to the U.S. Army.[13] With the development of board lamination and
etching techniques, this concept evolved into the standard printed circuit board fabrication process in use
today. Soldering could be done automatically by passing the board over a ripple, or wave, of molten
solder in a wave-soldering machine. However, the wires and holes are inefficient since drilling holes is
expensive and consumes drill bits and the protruding wires are cut off and discarded.

From the 1980s onward, small surface mount parts have been used increasingly instead of through-hole
components; this has led to smaller boards for a given functionality and lower production costs, but with
some additional difficulty in servicing faulty boards.

In the 1990s the use of multilayer surface boards became more frequent. As a result, size was further
minimized and both flexible and rigid PCBs were incorporated in different devices. In 1995 PCB
manufacturers began using microvia technology to produce High-Density Interconnect (HDI) PCBs.[14]

Recent advances
Recent advances in 3D printing have meant that there are several new techniques in PCB creation. 3D
printed electronics (PEs) can be utilized to print items layer by layer and subsequently the item can be
printed with a liquid ink that contains electronic functionalities.

HDI (High Density Interconnect) technology allows for a denser design on the PCB and thus potentially
smaller PCBs with more traces and components in a given area. As a result, the paths between
components can be shorter. HDIs use blind/buried vias, or a combination that includes microvias. With
multi-layer HDI PCBs the interconnection of several vias stacked on top of each other (stacked vías,
instead of one deep buried via) can be made stronger, thus enhancing reliability in all conditions. The
most common applications for HDI technology are computer and mobile phone components as well as
medical equipment and military communication equipment. A 4-layer HDI microvia PCB is equivalent in
quality to an 8-layer through-hole PCB, so HDI technology can reduce costs. HDI PCBs are often made
using build-up film such as ajinomoto build-up film, which is also used in the production of flip chip
packages.[15][16] Some PCBs have optical waveguides, similar to optical fibers built on the PCB.[17]

Composition
A basic PCB consists of a flat sheet of insulating material and a
layer of copper foil, laminated to the substrate. Chemical etching
divides the copper into separate conducting lines called tracks or
circuit traces, pads for connections, vias to pass connections
between layers of copper, and features such as solid conductive
areas for electromagnetic shielding or other purposes. The tracks
function as wires fixed in place, and are insulated from each other
by air and the board substrate material. The surface of a PCB may
have a coating that protects the copper from corrosion and reduces
the chances of solder shorts between traces or undesired electrical
contact with stray bare wires. For its function in helping to prevent An example of hand-drawn etched
solder shorts, the coating is called solder resist or solder mask. traces on a PCB

The pattern to be etched into each copper layer of a PCB is called

the "artwork". The etching is usually done using photoresist which is coated onto the PCB, then exposed
to light projected in the pattern of the artwork. The resist material protects the copper from dissolution
into the etching solution. The etched board is then cleaned. A PCB design can be mass-reproduced in a
way similar to the way photographs can be mass-duplicated from film negatives using a photographic
printer.

FR-4 glass epoxy is the most common insulating substrate. Another substrate material is cotton paper
impregnated with phenolic resin, often tan or brown.

When a PCB has no components installed, it is less ambiguously called a printed wiring board (PWB) or
etched wiring board.[18] However, the term "printed wiring board" has fallen into disuse. A PCB
populated with electronic components is called a printed circuit assembly (PCA), printed circuit board
assembly or PCB assembly (PCBA). In informal usage, the term "printed circuit board" most commonly
means "printed circuit assembly" (with components). The IPC preferred term for an assembled board is
circuit card assembly (CCA),[19] and for an assembled backplane it is backplane assembly. "Card" is
another widely used informal term for a "printed circuit assembly". For example, expansion card.
A PCB may be printed with a legend identifying the components, test points, or identifying text.
Originally, silkscreen printing was used for this purpose, but today other, finer quality printing methods
are usually used. Normally the legend does not affect the function of a PCBA.

Layers
A printed circuit board can have multiple layers of copper which almost always are arranged in pairs. The
number of layers and the interconnection designed between them (vias, PTHs) provide a general estimate
of the board complexity. Using more layers allow for more routing options and better control of signal
integrity, but are also time-consuming and costly to manufacture. Likewise, selection of the vias for the
board also allow fine tuning of the board size, escaping of signals off complex ICs, routing, and long term
reliability, but are tightly coupled with production complexity and cost.

One of the simplest boards to produce is the two-layer board. It has copper on both sides that are referred
to as external layers; multi layer boards sandwich additional internal layers of copper and insulation.
After two-layer PCBs, the next step up is the four-layer. The four layer board adds significantly more
routing options in the internal layers as compared to the two layer board, and often some portion of the
internal layers is used as ground plane or power plane, to achieve better signal integrity, higher signaling
frequencies, lower EMI, and better power supply decoupling.

In multi-layer boards, the layers of material are laminated together in an alternating sandwich: copper,
substrate, copper, substrate, copper, etc.; each plane of copper is etched, and any internal vias (that will
not extend to both outer surfaces of the finished multilayer board) are plated-through, before the layers
are laminated together. Only the outer layers need be coated; the inner copper layers are protected by the
adjacent substrate layers.

Component mounting
"Through hole" components are mounted by their wire leads
passing through the board and soldered to traces on the other side.
"Surface mount" components are attached by their leads to copper
traces on the same side of the board. A board may use both
methods for mounting components. PCBs with only through-hole
mounted components are now uncommon. Surface mounting is
used for transistors, diodes, IC chips, resistors, and capacitors.
Through-hole mounting may be used for some large components
such as electrolytic capacitors and connectors.
Through-hole (leaded) resistors
The first PCBs used through-hole technology, mounting electronic
components by lead inserted through holes on one side of the
board and soldered onto copper traces on the other side. Boards may be single-sided, with an unplated
component side, or more compact double-sided boards, with components soldered on both sides.
Horizontal installation of through-hole parts with two axial leads (such as resistors, capacitors, and
diodes) is done by bending the leads 90 degrees in the same direction, inserting the part in the board
(often bending leads located on the back of the board in opposite directions to improve the part's
mechanical strength), soldering the leads, and trimming off the ends. Leads may be soldered either
manually or by a wave soldering machine.[20]
Surface-mount technology emerged in the 1960s, gained
momentum in the early 1980s, and became widely used by the
mid-1990s. Components were mechanically redesigned to have
small metal tabs or end caps that could be soldered directly onto
the PCB surface, instead of wire leads to pass through holes.
Components became much smaller and component placement on
both sides of the board became more common than with through-
hole mounting, allowing much smaller PCB assemblies with much
higher circuit densities. Surface mounting lends itself well to a Through-hole devices mounted on
high degree of automation, reducing labor costs and greatly the circuit board of a mid-1980s
increasing production rates compared with through-hole circuit Commodore 64 home computer

boards. Components can be supplied mounted on carrier tapes.

Surface mount components can be about one-quarter to one-tenth
of the size and weight of through-hole components, and passive
components much cheaper. However, prices of semiconductor
surface mount devices (SMDs) are determined more by the chip
itself than the package, with little price advantage over larger
packages, and some wire-ended components, such as 1N4148
small-signal switch diodes, are actually significantly cheaper than
SMD equivalents.
A box of drill bits used for making
holes in printed circuit boards. While
Electrical properties
tungsten-carbide bits are very hard,
Each trace consists of a flat, narrow part of the copper foil that they eventually wear out or break.
remains after etching. Its resistance, determined by its width, Drilling is a considerable part of the
thickness, and length, must be sufficiently low for the current the cost of a through-hole printed circuit
conductor will carry. Power and ground traces may need to be board.

wider than signal traces. In a multi-layer board one entire layer

may be mostly solid copper to act as a ground plane for shielding
and power return. For microwave circuits, transmission lines can
be laid out in a planar form such as stripline or microstrip with
carefully controlled dimensions to assure a consistent impedance.
In radio-frequency and fast switching circuits the inductance and
capacitance of the printed circuit board conductors become
significant circuit elements, usually undesired; conversely, they
can be used as a deliberate part of the circuit design, as in
distributed-element filters, antennae, and fuses, obviating the need
Surface mount components,
for additional discrete components. High density interconnects including resistors, transistors and
(HDI) PCBs have tracks or vias with a width or diameter of under an integrated circuit
152 micrometers.[21]

Materials

Laminates
Laminates are manufactured by curing layers of cloth or paper
with thermoset resin under pressure and heat to form an integral
final piece of uniform thickness. They can be up to 4 by 8 feet (1.2
by 2.4 m) in width and length. Varying cloth weaves (threads per
inch or cm), cloth thickness, and resin percentage are used to
achieve the desired final thickness and dielectric characteristics.
Available standard laminate thickness are listed in ANSI/IPC-D-
275.[22]
A PCB in a computer mouse: the
The cloth or fiber material used, resin material, and the cloth to component side (left) and the
resin ratio determine the laminate's type designation (FR-4, CEM- printed side (right)

1, G-10, etc.) and therefore the characteristics of the laminate

produced. Important characteristics are the level to which the
laminate is fire retardant, the dielectric constant (er), the loss tangent (tan δ), the tensile strength, the shear
strength, the glass transition temperature (Tg), and the Z-axis expansion coefficient (how much the
thickness changes with temperature).

There are quite a few different dielectrics that can be chosen to provide different insulating values
depending on the requirements of the circuit. Some of these dielectrics are polytetrafluoroethylene
(Teflon), FR-4, FR-1, CEM-1 or CEM-3. Well known pre-preg materials used in the PCB industry are
FR-2 (phenolic cotton paper), FR-3 (cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4 (woven glass and epoxy), FR-5
(woven glass and epoxy), FR-6 (matte glass and polyester), G-10 (woven glass and epoxy), CEM-1
(cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-2 (cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-3 (non-woven glass and epoxy), CEM-
4 (woven glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (woven glass and polyester). Thermal expansion is an important
consideration especially with ball grid array (BGA) and naked die technologies, and glass fiber offers the
best dimensional stability.

FR-4 is by far the most common material used today. The board stock with unetched copper on it is called
"copper-clad laminate".

With decreasing size of board features and increasing frequencies, small non-homogeneities like uneven
distribution of fiberglass or other filler, thickness variations, and bubbles in the resin matrix, and the
associated local variations in the dielectric constant, are gaining importance.

Key substrate parameters

The circuit-board substrates are usually dielectric composite materials. The composites contain a matrix
(usually an epoxy resin) and a reinforcement (usually a woven, sometimes non-woven, glass fibers,
sometimes even paper), and in some cases a filler is added to the resin (e.g. ceramics; titanate ceramics
can be used to increase the dielectric constant).

The reinforcement type defines two major classes of materials: woven and non-woven. Woven
reinforcements are cheaper, but the high dielectric constant of glass may not be favorable for many
higher-frequency applications. The spatially non-homogeneous structure also introduces local variations
in electrical parameters, due to different resin/glass ratio at different areas of the weave pattern. Non-
woven reinforcements, or materials with low or no reinforcement, are more expensive but more suitable
for some RF/analog applications.
The substrates are characterized by several key parameters, chiefly thermomechanical (glass transition
temperature, tensile strength, shear strength, thermal expansion), electrical (dielectric constant, loss
tangent, dielectric breakdown voltage, leakage current, tracking resistance...), and others (e.g. moisture
absorption).

At the glass transition temperature the resin in the composite softens and significantly increases thermal
expansion; exceeding Tg then exerts mechanical overload on the board components - e.g. the joints and
the vias. Below Tg the thermal expansion of the resin roughly matches copper and glass, above it gets
significantly higher. As the reinforcement and copper confine the board along the plane, virtually all
volume expansion projects to the thickness and stresses the plated-through holes. Repeated soldering or
other exposition to higher temperatures can cause failure of the plating, especially with thicker boards;
thick boards therefore require a matrix with a high Tg.

The materials used determine the substrate's dielectric constant. This constant is also dependent on
frequency, usually decreasing with frequency. As this constant determines the signal propagation speed,
frequency dependence introduces phase distortion in wideband applications; as flat a dielectric constant
vs frequency characteristics as is achievable is important here. The impedance of transmission lines
decreases with frequency, therefore faster edges of signals reflect more than slower ones.

Dielectric breakdown voltage determines the maximum voltage gradient the material can be subjected to
before suffering a breakdown (conduction, or arcing, through the dielectric).

Tracking resistance determines how the material resists high voltage electrical discharges creeping over
the board surface.

Loss tangent determines how much of the electromagnetic energy from the signals in the conductors is
absorbed in the board material. This factor is important for high frequencies. Low-loss materials are more
expensive. Choosing unnecessarily low-loss material is a common engineering error in high-frequency
digital design; it increases the cost of the boards without a corresponding benefit. Signal degradation by
loss tangent and dielectric constant can be easily assessed by an eye pattern.

Moisture absorption occurs when the material is exposed to high humidity or water. Both the resin and
the reinforcement may absorb water; water also may be soaked by capillary forces through voids in the
materials and along the reinforcement. Epoxies of the FR-4 materials are not too susceptible, with
absorption of only 0.15%. Teflon has very low absorption of 0.01%. Polyimides and cyanate esters, on
the other side, suffer from high water absorption. Absorbed water can lead to significant degradation of
key parameters; it impairs tracking resistance, breakdown voltage, and dielectric parameters. Relative
dielectric constant of water is about 73, compared to about 4 for common circuit board materials.
Absorbed moisture can also vaporize on heating, as during soldering, and cause cracking and
delamination,[23] the same effect responsible for "popcorning" damage on wet packaging of electronic
parts. Careful baking of the substrates may be required to dry them prior to soldering.[24]

Common substrates
Often encountered materials:

FR-2, phenolic paper or phenolic cotton paper, paper impregnated with a phenol
formaldehyde resin. Common in consumer electronics with single-sided boards. Electrical
 properties inferior to FR-4. Poor arc resistance. Generally rated to 105 °C.
FR-4, a woven fiberglass cloth impregnated with an epoxy resin. Low water absorption (up
to about 0.15%), good insulation properties, good arc resistance. Very common. Several
grades with somewhat different properties are available. Typically rated to 130 °C.
Aluminum, or metal core board or insulated metal substrate (IMS), clad with thermally
conductive thin dielectric - used for parts requiring significant cooling - power switches,
LEDs. Consists of usually single, sometimes double layer thin circuit board based on e.g.
FR-4, laminated on aluminum sheet metal, commonly 0.8, 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 mm thick. The
thicker laminates sometimes also come with thicker copper metalization.[25][26]
Flexible substrates - can be a standalone copper-clad foil or can be laminated to a thin
stiffener, e.g. 50-130 μm

Kapton or UPILEX,[27] a polyimide foil. Used for flexible printed circuits, in this form
common in small form-factor consumer electronics or for flexible interconnects.
Resistant to high temperatures.
Pyralux, a polyimide-fluoropolymer composite foil.[28] Copper layer can delaminate
during soldering.
Less-often encountered materials:

FR-1, like FR-2, typically specified to 105 °C, some grades rated to 130 °C. Room-
temperature punchable. Similar to cardboard. Poor moisture resistance. Low arc resistance.
FR-3, cotton paper impregnated with epoxy. Typically rated to 105 °C.
FR-5, woven fiberglass and epoxy, high strength at higher temperatures, typically specified
to 170 °C.
FR-6, matte glass and polyester
G-10, woven glass and epoxy - high insulation resistance, low moisture absorption, very
high bond strength. Typically rated to 130 °C.
G-11, woven glass and epoxy - high resistance to solvents, high flexural strength retention
at high temperatures.[29] Typically rated to 170 °C.
CEM-1, cotton paper and epoxy
CEM-2, cotton paper and epoxy
CEM-3, non-woven glass and epoxy
CEM-4, woven glass and epoxy
CEM-5, woven glass and polyester
PTFE, ("Teflon") - expensive, low dielectric loss, for high frequency applications, very low
moisture absorption (0.01%), mechanically soft. Difficult to laminate, rarely used in
multilayer applications.
PTFE, ceramic filled - expensive, low dielectric loss, for high frequency applications. Varying
ceramics/PTFE ratio allows adjusting dielectric constant and thermal expansion.
RF-35, fiberglass-reinforced ceramics-filled PTFE. Relatively less expensive, good
mechanical properties, good high-frequency properties.[30][31]
Alumina, a ceramic. Hard, brittle, very expensive, very high performance, good thermal
conductivity.
Polyimide, a high-temperature polymer. Expensive, high-performance. Higher water
absorption (0.4%). Can be used from cryogenic temperatures to over 260 °C.

Copper thickness
Copper thickness of PCBs can be specified directly or as the weight of copper per area (in ounce per
square foot) which is easier to measure. One ounce per square foot is 1.344 mils or 34 micrometers
thickness (0.001344 inches). Heavy copper is a layer exceeding three ounces of copper per ft2, or
approximately 4.2 mils (105 μm) (0.0042 inches) thick. Heavy copper layers are used for high current or
to help dissipate heat.

On the common FR-4 substrates, 1 oz copper per ft2 (35 μm) is the most common thickness; 2 oz (70 μm)
and 0.5 oz (17.5 μm) thickness is often an option. Less common are 12 and 105 μm, 9 μm is sometimes
available on some substrates. Flexible substrates typically have thinner metalization. Metal-core boards
for high power devices commonly use thicker copper; 35 μm is usual but also 140 and 400 μm can be
encountered.

In the US, copper foil thickness is specified in units of ounces per square foot (oz/ft2), commonly referred
to simply as ounce. Common thicknesses are 1/2 oz/ft2 (150 g/m2), 1 oz/ft2 (300 g/m2), 2 oz/ft2
(600 g/m2), and 3 oz/ft2 (900 g/m2). These work out to thicknesses of 17.05 μm (0.67 thou), 34.1 μm
(1.34 thou), 68.2 μm (2.68 thou), and 102.3 μm (4.02 thou), respectively.

oz/ft2 g/m2 μm thou

1/2 oz/ft2 150 g/m2 17.05 μm 0.67 thou

1 oz/ft2 300 g/m2 34.1 μm 1.34 thou

2 oz/ft2 600 g/m2 68.2 μm 2.68 thou

3 oz/ft2 900 g/m2 102.3 μm 4.02 thou

1/2 oz/ft2 foil is not widely used as a finished copper weight, but is used for outer layers when plating for
through holes will increase the finished copper weight Some PCB manufacturers refer to 1 oz/ft2 copper
foil as having a thickness of 35 μm (may also be referred to as 35 μ, 35 micron, or 35 mic).

1/0 – denotes 1 oz/ft2 copper one side, with no copper on the other side.
1/1 – denotes 1 oz/ft2 copper on both sides.
H/0 or H/H – denotes 0.5 oz/ft2 copper on one or both sides, respectively.
2/0 or 2/2 – denotes 2 oz/ft2 copper on one or both sides, respectively.

Manufacturing
Printed circuit board manufacturing involves manufacturing bare printed circuit boards and then
populating them with electronic components. In large-scale board manufacturing, multiple PCBs are
grouped on a single panel for efficient processing. After assembly, they are separated (depaneled).

Types

Breakout boards
A minimal PCB for a single component, used for prototyping, is
called a breakout board. The purpose of a breakout board is to
"break out" the leads of a component on separate terminals so that
manual connections to them can be made easily. Breakout boards
are especially used for surface-mount components or any
components with fine lead pitch.

Advanced PCBs may contain components embedded in the

substrate, such as capacitors and integrated circuits, to reduce the
amount of space taken up by components on the surface of the
PCB while improving electrical characteristics.[32]
A breakout board can allow
interconnection between two
Multiwire boards incompatible connectors.
Multiwire is a patented technique of interconnection which uses
machine-routed insulated wires embedded in a non-conducting
matrix (often plastic resin).[33] It was used during the 1980s and
1990s. As of 2010, Multiwire is still available through Hitachi.

Since it was quite easy to stack interconnections (wires) inside the

embedding matrix, the approach allowed designers to forget
completely about the routing of wires (usually a time-consuming
operation of PCB design): Anywhere the designer needs a
connection, the machine will draw a wire in a straight line from This breakout board allows an SD
one location/pin to another. This led to very short design times (no card's pins to be accessed easily
complex algorithms to use even for high density designs) as well while still allowing the card to be
hot-swapped.
as reduced crosstalk (which is worse when wires run parallel to
each other—which almost never happens in Multiwire), though
the cost is too high to compete with cheaper PCB technologies when large quantities are needed.

Corrections can be made to a Multiwire board layout more easily than to a PCB layout.[34]

Cordwood construction
Cordwood construction can save significant
space and was often used with wire-ended
components in applications where space was at a
premium (such as fuzes, missile guidance, and
telemetry systems) and in high-speed computers,
where short traces were important. In cordwood A cordwood module
construction, axial-leaded components were
mounted between two parallel planes. The name
comes from the way axial-lead components (capacitors, resistors, coils, and diodes) are stacked in parallel
rows and columns, like a stack of firewood. The components were either soldered together with jumper
wire or they were connected to other components by thin nickel ribbon welded at right angles onto the
component leads.[35] To avoid shorting together different interconnection layers, thin insulating cards
were placed between them. Perforations or holes in the cards allowed component leads to project through
to the next interconnection layer. One disadvantage of this system
was that special nickel-leaded components had to be used to allow
reliable interconnecting welds to be made. Differential thermal
expansion of the component could put pressure on the leads of the
components and the PCB traces and cause mechanical damage (as
was seen in several modules on the Apollo program). Additionally,
components located in the interior are difficult to replace. Some
versions of cordwood construction used soldered single-sided
PCBs as the interconnection method (as pictured), allowing the
use of normal-leaded components at the cost of being difficult to
remove the boards or replace any component that is not at the
edge.

Before the advent of integrated circuits, this method allowed the

highest possible component packing density; because of this, it
was used by a number of computer vendors including Control
Cordwood construction was used in
Data Corporation. proximity fuzes.

Uses
Printed circuit boards have been used as an alternative to their typical use for electronic and biomedical
engineering thanks to the versatility of their layers, especially the copper layer. PCB layers have been
used to fabricate sensors, such as capacitive pressure sensors and accelerometers, actuators such as
microvalves and microheaters, as well as platforms of sensors and actuators for Lab-on-a-chip (LoC), for
example to perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and fuel cells, to name a few.[36]

Repair
Manufacturers may not support component-level repair of printed circuit boards because of the relatively
low cost to replace compared with the time and cost of troubleshooting to a component level. In board-
level repair, the technician identifies the board (PCA) on which the fault resides and replaces it. This shift
is economically efficient from a manufacturer's point of view but is also materially wasteful, as a circuit
board with hundreds of functional components may be discarded and replaced due to the failure of one
minor and inexpensive part, such as a resistor or capacitor, and this practice is a significant contributor to
the problem of e-waste.[37]

Legislation
In many countries (including all European Single Market participants,[38] the United Kingdom,[39]
Turkey, and China), legislation restricts the use of lead, cadmium, and mercury in electrical equipment.
PCBs sold in such countries must therefore use lead-free manufacturing processes and lead-free solder,
and attached components must themselves be compliant.[40][41]
Safety Standard UL 796 covers component safety requirements for printed wiring boards for use as
components in devices or appliances. Testing analyzes characteristics such as flammability, maximum
operating temperature, electrical tracking, heat deflection, and direct support of live electrical parts.

See also

Electronics portal

Breadboard
BT-Epoxy - resin used in PCBs
Certified interconnect designer - qualification for PCB designers
Occam process - solder-free circuit board manufacture method

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Further reading
Tavernier, Karel (September 2015). "PCB Fabrication Data - Design to Fabrication Data
Transfer" (http://www.ucamco.com/files/downloads/file/130/pcb_fabrication_a_guide_20150
107.pdf) (PDF). V6. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220308070109/https://www.uc
amco.com/files/downloads/file_en/130/pcb-fabrication-data-a-guide_en.pdf?6f1ad339fbbb65
4d75d8b25bc426d2c3) (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
Colotti, James (2022). "Analog, RF and EMC Considerations in Printed Wiring Board (PWB)
Design" (https://ieee.li/pdf/viewgraphs/analog-rf-emc-considerations-pwb-design.pdf) (PDF).
 Revision 5. IEEE, Long Island Section. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220508092
311/https://ieee.li/pdf/viewgraphs/analog-rf-emc-considerations-pwb-design.pdf) (PDF) from
the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.

External links
Media related to Printed circuit boards at Wikimedia Commons

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