What Is A Printed Circuit Board?

Regardless what kind of electronic device you have

, you would most likely have in your hands a device being run using a printed circuit board. Aside from providing a solid base to hold the components of the device, it also serves as a venue for the electrical interconnections. But what exactly is a printed circuit board or PCB?

The first version of the PCB came out in 1903 and was then called a printed wire. The PCB that we know of today did not make it to the market until after the Second World War. It was Dr. Paul Eisler who lays the claim for the first person to come up with the PCB in his efforts to replace the radio tube wiring with something less conspicuous. Today, PCBs feature surface mounts making it possible for manufacturers to come up with even smaller electronic gadgets.

Most manufacturers make use of three methods by which they can produce printed circuit boards, foremost of which is the silk screen printing method. In this method, etch-resistant inks are used to protect the copper foil. Subsequent etching on the surface makes it possible for the copper to be removed. In the case of hybrid circuits, manufacturers use inks that are conductive and work with a blank, non-conductive board.

Another way of creating the PCB design layout is with the use of photoengraving. In this method, a photomask combined with chemical etching helps remove the copper foil from the substrate. A photoplotter is used to ready the photomask using data provided by the computer-aided manufacturing software.

The third method of doing a PCB design layout is with PCB milling. In this procedure, a two or three-axis mechanical milling system mills the copper away from the substrate. This method is quite similar to photoengraving in that a PCB prototyper is made used in the same way as the plotter. The data that tells the prototype what to do is usually extracted froma PCB design software.

Manufacturers of PCBs can provide you with PCB design layout services in either short or long production run. Oftentimes, these manufacturers also do injection molding, rapid prototyping, and PCB fabrication, among others.

by:Sean Countryman

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