Aluminum Substrate vs Copper Core PCB: Which Base to Choose Metal core boards are used when the board itself has to carry heat away from a component. Two base materials dominate the choice: an aluminum substrate, which is inexpensive, light and adequate for most LED work, and a copper core,…

Flex Bend Radius And Dynamic Flex Life A flexible circuit that is bent once during assembly and left in place behaves very differently from one that flexes every time a lid opens. The first is a static application and almost any construction will survive it; the second is a dynamic…

Current Shunt Measurement and Kelvin Layout A current shunt is the simplest way to measure current: pass it through a resistor of known value and measure the voltage across it. The accuracy of the measurement, however, depends almost entirely on where the voltage is measured. A few milliohms of track…

Ceramic Substrates for Automotive Thermoelectric Coolers A thermoelectric cooler is a solid state heat pump. Current through a junction of p type and n type semiconductor pellets moves heat from one face of the module to the other, so the same device can cool a component or stabilise its temperature…

Solder Ball Defects in SMT Assembly: Causes and Fixes Anyone who has inspected a reflowed board under magnification has seen them: tiny spheres of alloy scattered beside pads, sometimes loose on the mask and sometimes clinging to a component body. They look trivial, and on a benign design they often…

PCB Filter Placement: Where the Parts Sit 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…

PCB ESD Protection Layout: Giving the Spike a Way Out 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 ESD protection layout from the perspective of a PCBA…

PCB Bulk Capacitor Selection: The Big One on the Rail 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 bulk capacitor selection from the perspective of a PCBA…

PCB Common Mode Choke Layout: Two Windings in the Path 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…

PCB Laminated Busbar: Power in Layers 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 laminated…