Ensure properly working PCB production with reliable PCB manufacturing companies

Printed Circuit Board is a thin sheet on which electronic component and chips are soldered and connected for communication via conducting pathways.

There are different types of printed circuit boards available that are manufactured, according to the client’s requirement specifications, using various types of soldering techniques.

PCBs are widely used in different industries that deal with the manufacturing of electronics such as automobile, entertainment, medical, telecommunications, power supply, instrumentation control, and others.

Many of such businesses hire professional PCB manufacturing companies for fabrication of ready-to-use printed circuit boards. Let me share with you the common steps used in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards.

• After choosing the thin sheet on which various electronic component are mounted, the next step is to make pathways on the board so that electrical components and chips can communicate to produce the desired functionality. Pathways are made by removing unwanted copper from the board. Manufacturing of PCBs is generally carried out through etching process which is accomplished using ferric chloride.

• The designing of conductive pathways is accomplished through a photographic process in which a thin layer of photo-resist material is used to cover the copper on the board.

• Photo-resist material on the board is then exposed to light through mask, known as photo-mask or photographic film, printed with the details of required pattern of pathways.

• After this, photo-resist is placed in a designer so that spaces on the board where conductive lines are needed are highlighted in the resist.

• The next step in the fabrication process is to etch the board areas where no conductive lines are needed.  To achieve this PCB is placed into ferric chloride.

• The time for which the board is placed in ferric chloride greatly depends upon two aspects that are the thickness of copper on the sheet and concentration of ferric chloride. Any carelessness in the measurement of such factors can give you with low definition track designs. For example, if the board is placed in the ferric chloride for long time, it may produce a low definition pattern because ferric chloride has properties to weaken the photo-resist.

• Although photographic processing for manufacturing PCB is quite popular, there are many other techniques to achieve the same results. Using highly specialized milling machine, copper layer can be milled away from those parts of the board where it is not required. The milling of copper is controlled by printed circuit board design software. When it comes to the manufacturing of PCBs in large quantities, this method of designing printed circuit boards is not suitable.

• Another methods used for printed circuit board prototype is to print onto PCBs etch resistant inks via silk screening printing process.

Hiring PCB manufacturing companies, one can ensure the fast production of properly functioning PCBs.