Micro Inverter PCB Manufacturing One Panel, One Inverter A micro inverter sits behind a single solar panel and converts that panel’s direct current output to alternating current on the spot. The architectural difference from a string inverter is significant: because each panel has its own converter, shading or a fault…

Hard Drive PCB Manufacturing The Control Board Under the Drive A mechanical hard disk drive is a precision electromechanical device with a surprisingly small amount of electronics attached to the underside. That board has to run the spindle motor, drive the actuator that positions the heads, process the read and…

Capacitive Touch PCB Manufacturing A Switch With No Moving Parts A capacitive touch control replaces the mechanical switch with a copper electrode printed on the board and a controller that measures how much the electrode’s capacitance changes when a finger approaches. There is nothing to wear out, nothing to get…

Alumina Ceramic PCB Manufacturing The Workhorse of Ceramic Boards When a laminate can no longer take the temperature, the voltage or the heat flux, the design moves to a ceramic substrate. Among the ceramics, alumina is the one used most widely, because it combines a useful thermal conductivity with excellent…

Semiflex PCB Manufacturing The Middle Ground Between Rigid and Flexible Rigid boards are cheap and stable but cannot be folded into a tight enclosure. Flexible and rigid flex boards solve that problem but bring the cost and process complexity of polyimide, coverlay and stiffeners with them. Semiflex sits between the…

PCB Panel Washing After Drilling: Cleaning the Dust Out 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…

Aluminum Nitride Substrate PCB When Alumina Is Not Enough Ceramic substrates have long been the answer where a laminate cannot take the temperature or the heat flux. Alumina is the traditional choice because it is inexpensive, well understood and electrically excellent, but its thermal conductivity is modest. As power densities…

Consumer Electronics PCB Manufacturing Cost, Speed and Quality at the Same Time A consumer product competes on price, reaches the market on a schedule and is expected to work for the life of the device without complaint. The board inside it has to satisfy all three of those pressures at…

PCB Stencil Nano Coating: Helping the Paste Release 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…

Surgical Instrument PCB Manufacturing A Board That Goes Into the Operating Room A surgical instrument is used close to the patient and in some cases inside the body, and the electronics that control it have to survive sterilisation, fluids, vibration and repeated handling while remaining accurate. The board inside an…