Solder Joint Corrosion in Humid and Polluted Environments A solder joint is a piece of metal in a chemical environment, and that environment contains water, oxygen, flux residue and whatever the atmosphere brings with it. Corrosion is the result, and it appears as a change in resistance, a growing leakage…

PCB Silkscreen Problems: From Design to Repeatable Production 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 silkscreen problems gives you a practical advantage when you…

PCB Soldermask Risks: What Buyers and Engineers Should Check 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 soldermask risks from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Soldermask Specification: What Buyers and Engineers Should Check 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 soldermask specification from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Soldermask Sample: Design, Process, and Quality Notes 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 soldermask sample gives you a practical advantage when you…

PCB Silkscreen Checklist: What Buyers and Engineers Should Check 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 silkscreen checklist gives you a practical advantage when…

PCB Soldermask Review: Design, Process, and Quality Notes 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 soldermask review gives you a practical advantage when you…

Fine Line Etching Uniformity Control on Inner Layers Etching is a subtractive process, which means that every variation in the way the etchant reaches the copper becomes a variation in the conductor that remains. On a fine line board the conductor width is a controlled parameter, because it sets the…

Embedded Capacitor Design Guide An embedded capacitor is a layer of dielectric placed between two copper planes inside the board, so that the planes and the material between them form a large distributed capacitor. It is not a replacement for every discrete capacitor on the board, and it is not…

Drill Smear And Desmear Control In Multilayer Boards Drilling a multilayer board generates heat at the cutting edge, and that heat is enough to soften the resin and smear it across the inner layer copper. The smear is an insulating film, and if it is not removed the plated barrel…