PCB Specialty Substrate Selection: Boards for Special Jobs Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article explains…

PCB Copper Foil Type Selection: Choosing the Foil Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article explains…

PCB Prepreg Resin Content: Resin Rich or Resin Starved Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB prepreg resin content from the perspective of a PCBA factory…

SMT Prototype Builds: Data Intake, Stencil and First Article Release A prototype order is small by definition, and that is exactly why it deserves the full process. The purpose of an SMT prototype build is not merely to produce a board that powers up. It is to verify that the…

BGA and QFN Solder Joint Control with X-ray Inspection Ball grid array and quad flat no-lead packages are popular because they fit a large number of connections or a good thermal path into a small footprint. The price of that density is that the main solder joints sit beneath the…

PCB CTE Mismatch in Assembly: When Materials Expand Differently Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article…

PCB Design Requirements Across Medical, Automotive and Industrial Electronics The same designer can produce a board for a blood pressure monitor and a board for a solar inverter, but not by applying the same rules. PCB design requirements shift with the industry, because each domain is governed by a different…

PCB Laminate Tg and Td Selection: Heat Resistance You Can Trust Buyers and engineers often focus on the finished product and forget the production line behind it. In practice, most field failures can be traced back to process decisions made during assembly. Understanding PCB laminate Tg and Td selection gives…

Consumer Electronics Solution Development for Smart Devices Developing a consumer electronics product is not the same exercise as developing an industrial one, even when the electronics are comparable. A consumer product is measured against a cost target that has been set by the market rather than by the bill of…

PCB In-process Inspection Points: Where to Look on the Line Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This…