Forward
I began learning about printed circuit boards (PCB’s) when I was a recent hire at Enthone and while I knew much about functional and decorative plating I knew very little about electronics. As I began to probe into how our product lines served the electronics market I found a plethora of quality information dedicated to specific products but little encompassing everything and explaining to a newcomer how the various processes interacted, how our products fit these processes, and what competitive advantages Enthone products offered. To get this information I went straight to our tech service reps and customers who were troubleshooting issues and optimizing processes. Going to the center of activity was able to create this guide to fill in the missing information. Hopefully with this guide, anyone can understand the basics of printed circuit manufacturing and how our company supports this business.
Special thanks to Patrice Dumas, Ken Mckeown and Rudi Reetz
for their invaluable input and time, without which this guide would not be
possible.
Intro
A printed circuit board is an apparatus used to connect and
structurally support discrete components in a variety of electronics applications.
PCB’s are thin, planar rectangles constructed using multiple steps in a
manufacturing facility or “fab”. First, sheets known as inner layers are
laminated together to form the basic structure of the PCB. The resulting
laminate is further processed to make the outer surface conductive so that
components may be connected electrically from the outside. Finally, a coating
is applied to the board to protect it during transport to another facility,
where discrete electronic components will be assembled on the board.
