Via Stubs and Via Effects in High Speed Design A via looks electrically innocent on a schematic, and at low frequency it is. At multi gigabit rates it becomes one of the most significant discontinuities on the board, because the plated barrel is a capacitor, the unused portion below the…

Microwave PCB Fabrication: Materials, Tolerances and Tests A microwave PCB looks like any other printed circuit until the requirements are read. The tolerances are tighter, the materials are different, the vias behave as circuit elements rather than as connections, and the verification is performed with instruments that measure reflection rather…

PCB Voiding Under Thermal Pads: Air Where the Heat Should Be 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.…

PCB Yield at Fine Pitch: Where the Losses Come From 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 yield at fine pitch gives you a…

PCB Paste Inspection After Print: Checking the Print 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 Step Stencil for Mixed Boards: Two Depths in One Print 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 step stencil for mixed boards from the perspective…

PCB Stencil Cleaning Routine: Keeping the Openings Clear 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 stencil cleaning routine gives you a practical advantage when…

Blood Pressure Monitor PCB Design: Signal Chain and Layout A blood pressure monitor is a good example of a product where the board is the instrument. The measurement depends on resolving a small pressure oscillation that sits on top of a much larger static pressure, and the difference between the…

PCB Fabrication Design Rules: Minimum Features and CAM Checks Every design rule in a CAD tool has a counterpart in the fabricator’s process, and where the two disagree the process wins. A trace narrower than the etching process can hold is not a thin trace; it is an open circuit.…

PCB Thermal Profiler Setup: Measuring the Heat 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…