Consider These Factors Before Hiring The Right PCB Manufacturer!

To put it in the simplest form, it’s nearly impossible to imagine electronic products that we use on every day basis such as mobile phones, TVs, computers, laptops etc., without a printed circuit board. As an owner of an electronic business, it’s imperative for you to hire the right PCB supplier in order for your business operations to run smoothly.

While arranging for PCB manufacturing can be a painstaking process, it’s wise to hire the services that can provide you with the best quality PCBs in time. However, this process is not very simple unless you know exactly how to go about it.

Here are some of the most important factors that you need to take into account when hiring the right PCB manufacturer/supplier for your PCB needs:

Use of Technology

The best part about technology, regardless of the industry, is that it keeps on evolving and getting better. If you glance through the PCB market, you will find infinite options making tall claims and falling short of expectations. One important aspect to assess your options is determining their use of technology. Despite a lot of technological innovations have been made in the PCB industry, not all PCB providers capitalize on them. So, make sure you hire a PCB manufacturer/supplier that makes the best use of the advanced technology.

Industry Experience and Reputation

One of the biggest driving factors when it comes to hiring the right PCB supplier is its experience of working with various industries and the market reputation it has established over the years. Collaborate with a PCB supplier that caters the PCB needs of multiple industries such as telecommunications, consumer electronics, new energy, aerospace, medicine etc. Moreover, the kind of reputation a PCB supplier has in the market says a lot about the kind relationship you will be sharing with the outsourced partner. It’s quite obvious that you wouldn’t like to work with a company that provides you with faulty products or fails to ship you on time.

Customization

Unfortunately, most of the PCB suppliers that we have in the market offer standard PCBs at a low cost. While the low-price factor may attract you, it’s not wise to buy something that is going to be of no use for your electronics business. While your needs will vary from others, it’s important to hire a PCB supplier that can offer you custom printed circuit boards. These firms possess the capability to provide you with PCB prototypes as per your requirements and specifications.

Quality

This is one aspect that mustn’t be neglected even if you are required to a little more. If you are getting quality for a premium price, know that it’s going to be worth each extra penny. Partner with a PCB provider that possesses multiple quality certifications such as ISO: 9001, ISO/TS16949 and UL. These are some of the most elite and globally recognized certifications that guarantee quality.

Looking for a PCB prototype manufacturer that possesses all of the above stated characteristics? If yes, then Super PCB is where you should be heading. Visit their website http://superpcb.com/ for complete details about their services.

You Should Know about Rigid PCB Fabrication

Super PCB is a leading supplier of customized Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). From Fabrication of a variety of PCB Prototypes and their production to PCB assembly, Super PCB has been serving the electronic market for a decade. Super PCB provides single, double sided and multi layered, rigid, rigid-flex and flexible PCB prototypes and caters to a wide range of industries. Their customers are highly reputable companies as well as entrepreneurial start ups.

Inside A PCB: A Cross Section Analysis

It is pretty much impossible to think of electronic devices available nowadays without thinking of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards). After all, it is PCBs that ultimately decide the measure of functionality of your electronic devices. The better your PCB is, the more proficiently your device is bound to run.

To ensure that you get PCBs to fit into your device, the newly fabricated PCBs have to go through a series of internal and external tests to measure their overall quality.

The internal quality of the PCBs is inspected and verified using IPC inspection guideline with a process called Cross Section Analysis (also known as Micro Section).

What Does the Process Entail?

To begin the analysis a small part of the PCB is cut out called ‘Puck’ named such because it is immediately placed in a very soft acrylic that hardens around it and begins to resemble an ice hockey puck. This makes it possible for the board to be viewed from the side under a microscope.

Cross section analysis can also be called a threefold inspection tool of the internal makeup of a PCB as it is effective for in process verification as well as a failure analysis. The sections are usually taken from coupon sets procured with the production boards. The criteria for the inspection are set by the product specification referred by the customer IPC 6012 class, MIL-PRF-55110/31032 or by the customer’s very own requirements.

The coupons are positioned on the production panels with the boards and are processed along with the production panel where they reflect the process effects that are made to the entire panel. This eliminates the need to remove a production part to verify that the board meets the criteria.

Through hole coupons are usually used to determine:

• Surface and Hole Wall Plating Thickness
• Separation of the Inner Layers
• Registration of the Drill to the Outer and Inner Layer Images
• Inner Layer Connectivity
• The Condition of the Laminated Materials Surrounding the Holes
• Other methods are also used to evaluate:
• Solderability
• Peel Strength of the Copper
• Electrical Characteristics of Inner Layer Traces
• Solder Mask
• Legend Inks

With this, the manufacturers can inspect the prepared sections at various stages of production. Through this, they can get clues to possible process issues and the viability of the boards on a specific panel.

The corrupted/poor product is separated from the batch which is identified by the markings on the coupons and boards on which the panel was fabricated. The markings also help to identify the processing specifics for boards that may be involved in future failures thus becoming a very important part of the entire process.

The second role of the cross section analysis is to act as an effective failure analysis tool. If there is any indication of internal failure then individual boards may be subjected to sectioning. A visual inspection of the section helps to identify the reasons for internal process failures but other defects such as extraneous copper, over etch, poor solder mask developing, and etc. can be identified with cross sectional views of the surface trace work, pads and solder mask.

Data that is collected during the sectioning of a single or various lots of boards can be used for process improvement as well validation of the various processing steps used to fabricate the PCBs.

When you reach out to a company to have your PCBs manufactured, make sure to ask them about their process of quality inspections.

Super PCB is a company that provides the best boards each and every time, while ensuring that their boards pass all standard quality tests. To get custom printed circuit boards, PCB prototype and so much more, visit http://www.superpcb.com right now!

All About Rigid Flex Printed Circuit Boards

Rigid Flex PCBs are Printed Circuit Boards that are composed of various rigid areas and multiple flexible areas. The rigid areas offer durability of the board whereas the flexible areas offer adaptability to the application of the board. Because of their semi flexible nature, Rigid PCBs are most commonly used in military and medical electronic equipment.

Rigid flex PCBs are comprised of a combination of different materials. The rigid areas are made up of FR4 material, whereas the flexible areas of the rigid PCB are comprised of PI or PET. The connection that joins the rigid to the flex is made up of epoxy or resin. This allows the flexible and adaptable movements.

Some of the advantages of rigid flex PCBs include resistance to high temperature, shape adaptability, chemical stability and resistance to static interference.

Types of Rigid Flex PCBs

Ordinarily, there are two types of rigid flex PCBs. 

• Semi flex printed circuit boards 
• Multi flex printed circuit boards

Semi flex boards are perfect if the number of bends is very small. They are also considered a lower cost option because the flexible areas are made up of a thin FR4 material. 

Multi flex boards on the other hand are made up of a polyimide film coating the entire surface of the board. These boards are perfect for applications that only require a very small bend. Multi flex are also known as hybrid designs as they are made up of rigid and flexible substrates. 

Multi flex boards have varied possibilities that offer designers/ engineers greater freedom when the boards are designed and when the materials are selected. Asymmetrical and symmetrical are the two basic designs that are used in multi flex boards. The term asymmetrical is used because both sides are made using different materials. 

Layer stack-up is the simplest form of any multi flex board. Here the flexible material is placed on one side and the rigid material is located on the opposite end of the board. The stack up on asymmetrical multi-flex boards is not restricted to only one layer because it can contain multiple layers. Multi flex boards with asymmetrical layer stack ups are comparatively easier and cheaper to produce.

Overall rigid flex PCBs are known as passive wiring structures. They are used to interconnect electronic components like integrated circuits, capacitors and resistors. In the consumer electronics industry, rigid flex PCBs are used in (but are limited to) cameras, personal entertainment devices, calculators and exercise monitors.

For affordable rigid flex, flex and rigid PCB fabrication, you can contact Super PCB. The company also specializes in printed circuit board prototypes. For more information, visit http://www.superpcb.com/ 

What should you know about Flex Printed Circuit Boards

Significance of PCB Testing

PCB, an acronym for Printed Circuit Boards is used in almost everything today. From DVDs to cell phones and motherboards; every electronic device has a printed circuit board fitted within. If the PCB fails to function appropriately, the product itself won’t perform and your business’s sales and reputation are likely to collapse. 

Furthermore, if a business doesn’t have the required facilities and expertise to manufacture printed circuit boards, it is best to outsource its production to a third-party that specializes in PCBs. Such companies create PCBs using epoxy over thin copper layers. Generally, PCBs are produced on a massive scale, but the custom printed circuit boards can also be produced manually. The latest electronic devices that are being introduced in the market today have PCBs that play a vital role in their performance. This also indicates that PCBs today are being manufactured with greater resilience, efficiency and quality.

PCB and Quality Levels

PCB manufacturing companies work meticulously on the layout so that optimum quality levels are ensured before a particular project initiates. Generally, customized printed circuit boards are more expensive than the usual ones because they possess unique features that require unconventional mechanisms in order to be produced. Given that PCBs are the chief component of an electronic device, it is imperative to maintain its quality in order to keep up with the quality of the final product.

Why Conduct PCB Testing?

When choosing a PCB prototype manufacturer, opt for a company that has rigorous testing procedures for quality assurance. In other words, PCB testing is a crucial procedure to determine the quality, viability and performance of a printed circuit board. Therefore, ensure that PCB testing is a vital part of the overall process when outsourcing PCBs to a third-party. To guarantee that everything runs properly without faults and malfunctions, all the components of the product must be passed through PCB test. This way, businesses will prevent from putting their reputation at stake by supplying flawed products in the market. To avoid incurring losses and going bankrupt, it is essential to test printed circuit board prototypes for quality, consistency and performance. 

Knowing that there are a lot of PCB services providing companies out there in the market, it is natural for you to outsource printed circuit board production to a company that has authentic and accurate PCB testing procedures. 

Super PCB invests generously to ensure quality of its printed circuit boards by running several tests such as high-voltage E-test, X-ray gold thickness tester, backlighting tester, automatic optical inspector, copper thickness tester, photoelectricity balance and more. Visit their website http://superpcb.com/ to learn more about their services.http://www.superpcb.com/Facilities.html

Introducing you to different types of Printed Circuit Boards

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Steps Involved in PCB Fabrication

Modern technology has streamlined the process of PCB fabrication. Almost all tasks are conducted by machines. This guarantees that you get a perfect and high functioning product each and every time. But if you have ever wondered what exactly goes on in the fabrication process, then keep on reading because today you are going to know about the process of creating multilayer PCB, step by step.  

Schematics

The designer of the board uses the CAD system (Computer Aided Design) to create the schematics. CAD system uses its own internal data format. The PCB industry had developed its own standard output format to transfer the layout data of the manufacturer referred to as the gerber file. This file defines the copper lines in the schematics, as well as the soder mask and the location of the components. The designer of the schematic conducts the DFM review after the initial design is complete. This is done to check the trace lift widths; the space between the traces and the size of the holes to make the design fit the manufacturing capabilities. Once this task is complete, the file data is sent to the appropriate machines for the next step.

Photo Plotting

The laser photo plotting machines create the film that will be used to make the PCBs in a temperature and humidity controlled darkened environment. The data from the gerber file is converted into an image file here and the laser photo plotter cuts it onto the film. The machine then automatically develops the film and unloads it.

Inner Layer Lamination

This process starts with cleaning the copper sheets. This is done in a clean environment to make sure that no dust can get it in, because otherwise it might cause a short or open circuit. After the cleaning, the sheet is coated with a photo sensitive material called the photo resist. After that the previously created film is placed in the printer. Over that the copper sheet with photo resist is placed and the layers are precisely aligned. This time the printer uses powerful UV lamps, which harden the photo resist on top of the copper sheet.

Etch Strip Developing

The hardened resist remains on the copper sheets while the rest of the resist needs to be cleaned away. A powerful alkaline solution is used to etch away (dissolve) the unwanted copper. After that the film, that protected the remaining copper, is stripped away. Later, to align the inner and outer layers, holes are punched in the layer.

Automatic Optical Inspection

Flaws in the layers cannot be detected once the PCB is assembled. That is why the AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) machine is used to compare the produced copper layer with the original image created by CAD. The machine displays the flaws on the screen. Once they have been corrected, the oxide treatment of the sheet begins. This is done to protect the copper sheets from oxidizing. For this process the brown or black oxide is used.

Multilayer Lamination

The multilayer lamination process starts with placing copper foil at the base. On top of which, two prepreg sheets are placed. The copper sheet, fresh from the oxide treatment is placed in the middle, again followed by prepreg sheets and copper foil. However, the aluminum plate is added at the top this time. This stack is sent to the pressing machines, where it is laminated together using heat. The aluminum plate is placed on top to protect the copper foils and it is later removed. The prepared panels are sent to another machine where excess material is cut off very carefully.

Drilling

The drilling machines are prepared with exit material, on which the panels would be placed. On top of the panel, an aluminum plate is placed to make sure that the panels don’t tear up during the drilling. The computer operated machine drills precise holes in the panel according to the original schematics. The drilled panels again go through a cleaning process to remove the excess debris. Finally the boards are electroplated with copper and stacked automatically.

Jet Scrub Cleaning and Soder Mask Application

This is done to remove oxidation from the surface of the copper, as well as to create topography to enhance the doer mask adhesion about to be applied soon. The process also makes the panels go through anti tarnish. Most boards have soder mask printed on to each side to protect the copper surface and to prevent soder shorting between components during assembly. A coating of soder mask is applied using machine machines to spray it on the surface of the panel. Soder mask is also called Liquid Photo Imageabel (LPI). Afterwards, the panel is covered with protecting platting. An inkjet printer is used to plot the location of the components that will be placed on the board.

Electrical Testing and Inspection

The prepared panels are all tested for any open and short circuit. Once it’s declared flaw free, the panels are rigorously tested by both machine and human operators. Only when they have been cleared by both, are the panels sent for final inspection and testing. The panels are tested against the original design, and checked to see if they will fit the components and operate within the parameters they were designed. The boards which pass each and every test are made ready for the shipment.

If you are interested in the fabrication process, or if you are looking for that specializes in developing prototypeprinted circuit boards, then contact the leading PCB developers, Super PCB right now to get a quote. Or you can visit http://superpcb.com