20-Layer PCB Cost: Materials, Vias and Volume A twenty layer board is where the economics of PCB manufacturing change character. At low layer counts the price is dominated by area and quantity, but at high layer counts the cost is dominated by process steps: every lamination cycle, every drilling operation…

RF PCB Design: Impedance, Grounding and Layout Practice An RF board is not simply a board with a radio on it. The distinction is whether a conductor is treated as a wire carrying a current or as a transmission line carrying a wave, and that depends on the ratio of…

Do You Really Need a High Speed Laminate? High speed laminates are sold on a promise: lower loss, more margin and a longer reach. That promise is real, but the price is several times that of ordinary FR4 and the process window is narrower. The question a design team actually…

PCB Immersion Tin Ageing: A Finish That Changes 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 HASL Versus ENIG: Two Ways to Finish a Pad 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 Date Code Control: Knowing How Old a Board Is 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 Surface Finish for Press Fit: What the Pin Meets 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 Plating Thickness for A Press Fit: Copper in the Barrel 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 plating thickness for a press fit from the…

Medical PCB Requirements: Density, Reliability and Flexibility Medical electronics has been a driver of board technology for longer than most people realise. Imaging systems, monitors and laboratory instruments were among the first products to demand high layer counts, tight impedance control and traceability, and the pressure has not eased: the…

10 Layer HDI Stackup: Microvias, Stacked Vias and Design Rules Ten layers is where a board stops being a stackup and becomes an architecture. At that layer count the connection between the layers is no longer a detail of the routing but the thing that determines how many lamination cycles…