How to Select Most Extensive Surface Finish in the PCB Manufacturing Process?

By | Date posted: | Last updated: April 23, 2021
PCB Manufacturing Finish

When it comes to electronic assembly, surface finish of the PCB is one of the most crucial decisions that you could take. Surface finish, in turn has implications on a whole lot of issues, including but not limited to:

  • Process yield
  • Scrap Rate
  • Ability to test
  • Cost and more.

Selection of the surface finish must be done basis a whole range of factors. Sometimes the mistake that is made, is to go by costs alone. While in the short run you may seem to be saving costs, you could be in for a rude shock in the long term.

The 5 most popular surface finish PCB types:

  • Electroless Nickel or Immersion Gold
  • Immersion silver
  • Immersion Tin
  • Organic Solderability Preservative (OSP)
  • PB-free HASL

Surface finish PCB comes with their own characteristic advantages to do with:

  • Solderability
  • Reliability
  • Shelf-life
  • Fabrication
  • Testability

When select surface finish PCB, must consider aspects:

  • Do you need direct wire bonding?
  • Is corrosion a concern for you?
  • Do you need wave solder?
  • Is shock or drop a concern area?
  • Do you require fine pitch assembly?
  • What kind of cost sensitivity do you have?

Let us look at the attributes of some of the surface finishes used in PCB Manufacturing, in some detail:

OSP

This surface finish is typically advisable to use when:

  • You need high volumes
  • When shock or drop is a concern
  • When you are looking for a cost-sensitive product
  • Fine pitch components are used.

OSP, however, isn’t recommended in cases where:

  • High yield ICT is required
  • Wire bonding is needed

Immersion Silver

This surface finish is used by PCB Manufacturers where:

  • High yield ICT is required
  • Cost sensitivity is important
  • Wire bonding is needed
  • Shock or drop is a concern area
  • Fine pitch components are used.

The limitations of Immersion Silver appear in:

  • Where corrosion failure is possible
  • Where the cosmetics of the finish are important to your overall scheme of things

Since tarnish is an issue, perception of quality often emerges as an issue with this surface finish.

Immersion Tin

It is recommended to use Immersion Tin Surface Finish in cases when:

  • Your requirement is high volume
  • You need high yield ICT
  • The look and feel of the finish is important to you
  • Cost is a concern area
  • PB shock is a concern

However, in cases where wire bonding is required or lead-free wave solder is needed it is best not to go in for this surface finish. It is also not a very popular choice with USA based PCB Manufacturer as it comes with a host of environmental and health concerns.

It is recommended to use Electroless Nickel/Immersion Gold Surface Finish where:

The use is this surface finish is rampant where:

  • The look and feel of the finish is important
  • Wire bonding is needed
  • High yield ICT is required
  • Fine pitch components are used
  • You need a high shelf life

Clearly, however, this surface finish will not fit your bill if:

  • You need high volumes
  • Shock or drop is a concern area
  • You are looking at a low-cost finish

Pb-free HASL

This surface finish is the first choice for PCB Manufacturer California, where:

  • Cost sensitivity is a major concern
  • Look and feel of the finish is important.
  • High yield ICT is required.

In case of high volume requirements or where wire bonding is required, this isn’t a preferred surface finish.

As the above charts reveal, choosing the right finish is a fairly technical task. PCB manufacturers with experience and industry expertise are best suited to choose the right surface finish, which in turn has a lot of implication on the overall success or failure of the electronics assembly. Some of the industries where these finishes typically see a lot of application, include:

OSP

  • Computers
  • Handheld electronics

Immersion Silver

  • Consumer electronics

Immersion Tin

  • Aerospace
  • Peripheral components

Sometimes, however, the decision of the surface finish is taken erroneously based on:

  • The cheapest finish available
  • The one that is easily available from the supplier
  • The one that allows for testing
  • Where field failures are minimum

Each of these approaches can have long-term consequences and need to be avoided in isolation.

Technotronix is one of the leading printed circuit board manufacturer based in the California, USA. We have over 4 decades of experience in providing innovative PCB manufacturing services using modern technologies and latest machinery. We capable to fulfill the varied need of our customer from the simple board to the most complex board for PCB Manufacturing to Assembly and PCB prototype to production.

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Top 8 Trends and Predictions for Electronics Manufacturing Industry that will Reshape 2020!

By | Date posted: | Last updated: April 8, 2022
trends-prediction

To say that the electronics manufacturing industry has been undergoing a whole lot of disruption in the last few years, wouldn’t be an overstatement. These are indeed exciting times for the industry as a whole with the advent of new technology giving the impetus to ramp up operations and make them more intelligent.

Top 8 Electronics Manufacturing Industry Trends that are shaping the industry:

1. Internet of Things

The electronics manufacturing industry has been both embracing as well as leveraging Internet of Things. On account of embracing IoT, the industry has been benefiting in various ways, prominent among them being:

  • A reduction in overall costs
  • Marked improvement in product innovation
  • Improved efficiency
  • Better safety measures

With the availability of real time information, improved and efficient decision-making has also been made possible. Check out how to overcome the challenges of IOT with Smart PCB Manufacturing.

In fact, with further rise in cloud computing as well as improvements in connectivity, the global IoT spend is only slated to increase further.

2. Leveraging the Supply Chain

With a sharp focus on improving the overall brand experience, leveraging the entire value chain is going to be another major trend. This could manifest itself in a number of ways, including:

  • Improved fulfillment time
  • Improved supply chain visibility
  • Improved sharing of information at different levels of the supply chain
  • Improved control of distribution channels
  • Reduction in costs
  • Greater degree of flexibility

All of this will go a long way in improving the customer experience at multiple touch points.

3. Environmental Accountability

This trend isn’t unique to the electronics manufacturing industry alone as most businesses are now aware of the environmental impact of their offerings. However, the electronics manufacturing industry is being seen taking several measures. Some of these include:

  • Greening of the factory floor
  • Investing in alternate energy sources
  • Reduction of waste emission

In fact, Electronics manufacturers are expected to closely look at their environmental impact at various stages of the product life cycle beginning with product design and ending with its storage, or even beyond, with its recyclability.

4. Customer Focus

As with a host of other industries, the electronics manufacturing industry will gain from its increased customer oriented approach. In fact, this trend will be further propelled by the use of IoT by ensuring a better understanding of the target consumer. This will ensure that the customer needs can be correctly mapped. Once this is done, customizing products to his requirements becomes a far easier job.

5. On-demand manufacturing

It follows from the above point that on-demand manufacturing will be another growing trend, with product personalization and customization being of prime importance. What this implies is that micro manufacturing will grow in size and delivering to the customer’s bespoke needs will be a focus area.

6. B2B2C

There is an increasing shift from B2B to B2B2C model that will enable the manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. This in turn will come with various advantages, prominent among them being:

  • Increased profit margins
  • Faster time to market
  • Improved customer relationships
  • Improved control in sales

To take advantage of these, the future will see electronics manufacturing companies further enhancing its e-commerce and logistics divisions.

7. Cobot workforce

The years to come will see an improved role played by cobots in the manufacturing process. In fact the collaborative robots market is estimated to reach £9.7 billion by 2025, as per as a Barclays Equity Research. In turn this will make automation of work processes quicker and more flexible. The added advantage of using cobots is also that they work well with fragile components as well as high-quality accessories.

8. VR & AR

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are also expected to play a strong role in the electronics manufacturing industry. The technology offers the ability to make accurate changes in the design phase itself so that costly errors in the production phase can be avoided. This also has its implication on efficiency as the time to make modifications is significantly reduced. The use of this technology also comes with reduced inspection time, which has positive implications both in terms of cost and quality.

Clearly then, going forward, as the demand for smart electronic devices continues to rise, the electronics manufacturing industry will focus on a number of different trends to ensure that it can meet and exceed customer requirements while also trying to control costs and being mindful of its environmental responsibilities.

Technotronix Electronics Manufacturing Service combines state-of-the-art technology with our advanced engineering to deliver unparalleled quality and service. Our defense, industrial, and medical customers gain a competitive edge with fast prototyping, domestic and off-shore manufacturing and the consistent delivery of high-quality, on-time, price-competitive products.

At Technotronix, we are fully equipped to handle your PCB manufacturing requirements. With over 4 decades of experience in PCB manufacturing as well as assembling PCBs with differing levels of complexities, we follow industry best practices to ensure we deliver cutting-edge products. Our team of experts and state-of-the-art equipment ensures that all our PCBs meet the industry standards of quality and testing. It is our vast portfolio of satisfied clients that stand as the biggest testimony to our success. In case if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected]

Top 4 Types of Plating Methods for Printed Circuit Boards Manufacturing!

By | Date posted: | Last updated: April 14, 2021
Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing

PCB plating is a very important aspect of manufacturing printed circuit boards. It essentially ensures that oxidization and hence deterioration of PCBs is prevented. When it comes to plating methods for Printed Circuit Boards, 4 main types of methods are in vogue. These include:

  • Finger Plating
  • Through-hole plating
  • Reel linkage selective plating
  • Brush plating

Brief overview of Printed Circuit Boards Manufacturing process involved PCB Plating:

Finger Plating

Also referred to as protruding partial plating, this method is used for rare metals such as gold to provide lower contact resistance as well as higher abrasive resistance. The process typically comprises of the following steps:

  • First up, the coating is stripped to remove the tin coating of the contact head.
  • The next step involves rinsing it with water
  • This needs to be followed by scrubbing it with abrasive
  • Next activated immersion in ten percent sulfuric acid needs to be initiated
  • After this, nickel needs to be plated on the protruding contact head. It is important to keep the thickness at 4-5μm
  • Cleaning and removing mineral water needs to be undertaken next
  • This needs to be followed by the Gold permeation solution treatment
  • Finally the gold plating needs to be carried out
  • This is, in turn, followed by cleaning and drying.

Through-Hole Plating

Through hole plating is a crucial manufacturing process for the drilling process. When the drill goes through the copper foil and the substrate below it, the resultant heat causes the insulating synthetic resin to melt. In turn, the molten resin collects around the holes. In turn it offers poor adhesion till the time specific techniques are put in place. What works is to use an adherent conductive film on the inner walls of the via. With this method what you are effectively doing is to take away the need for multiple chemical treatments. In fact, this method requires a single application, which needs to be followed by thermal curing which can then be electroplated. The advantage of using the ink is that it has strong adhesion capabilities that can be bonded without too much effort.

Reel Linkage Selective Plating

This method is largely used for selectively plating components such as:

  • Connectors
  • Integrated circuits
  • Transistors and more

You could choose to go with a manual or automatic plating method. The one thing to be remembered, however is that it can turn out to be a fairly costly affair to individually select each pin. It is, therefore, recommended that batch welding be done to render the process cost-effective. The process involves flattening of the ends of the metal foil to a required thickness. Post that it is die-cut, cleaned and then plated. The process of plating is as below:

  • A portion of the metal plate is coated with a resist film
  • The plating is then performed only on the selected copper foil area.

Brush Plating

This is yet another method of selective plating that is widely used. In this plating process whereby, a limited area is plated, care is taken to see that not all parts are immersed in the electrolyte. Check out the guide on how to select most extensive surface finish in the PCB manufacturing process. For example, this technique could be used with board edge connectors, where rare metals are plated on selected portions of the printed circuit boards. Brush plating finds a lot of usage in an electronics assembly shop when it comes to repairing waste boards. The process involves wrapping a special anode such as graphite in absorbent material to bring the plating solution to the specific parts that need to be plated.

As the intricacies of the process above reveal, it is imperative that you go with a PCB manufacturer that has the requisite experience in ensuring that the right PCB method be used and that the plating is done correctly and in a cost-effective manner.

Technotronix is one of the leading printed circuit board manufacturer based in the USA. We have over 4 decades of experience in providing innovative PCB manufacturing services using modern technologies and latest machinery. We are adhering to strict high-quality standards and compliant with the RoHS quality management system. We capable to fulfill the varied need of our customer from the simple board to the most complex board for PCB prototype to production.

Know More About Our PCB Manufacturing Service.

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PCB Material Selection Guide – How to Select the Right Materials for your PCB Manufacturing Project?

By | Date posted: | Last updated: January 18, 2023
Materials For PCB Project

When you are manufacturing something as critical as a Printed Circuit Board that can determine the success or failure of a product, it goes without saying that the choice of material for the PCB is crucial. The PCB material needs to conform to quality standards while also being available at optimal costs.

Here are some factors to be considered in choosing the PCB materials:

Glass Transition Temperature (Tg)

Glass transition temperature, simply put, is the temperature at which the base material shifts from a glassy, solid, rigid state to a rubbery state.

If the PCB’s operating temperature exceeds its Tg for a prolonged period of time, the PCB will change from glassy state to rubbery state. This in turn will affect its performance.

It is, therefore, crucial to determine the temperature to which the PCB will be exposed, to be able to select the right materials with appropriate Glass Transition Temperature

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE)

The different materials that PCBs are made up of have different coefficients of thermal expansion. With temperature rising, it leads to expansion of material and can result in mechanical stress that can result in micro cracks that can go unnoticed and can even lead to failure of the final product. It is important therefore to choose substrate material with low Co-efficient of Thermal Expansion.

Electrical Performance

Another aspect to consider is the electrical performance. It is advised to go with PCB Material that has high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss. The other areas to look for include:

  • Insulation resistance
  • Dielectric Strength
  • Arc Resistance

Flatness

PCB bending or warping can lead to a whole range of issues. It could be small so it is not noticed; on the other hand it could be so severe that it could cause immediate electrical issues. In choosing material for PCB, therefore, due emphasis needs to be laid on the fact that PCB typically requires warpage lower than 0.0075 mm/mm.

Specific industry or products

In addition, the choice of PCB material selection also depends upon the industry for which the PCB is being used and its specific requirements.

Electronic products typically require FR4 epoxy fiber glass substrate, as there isn’t any specific requirement, given the nature of the product with regard to flexibility or temperature. However, where there is a requirement for flexibility or temperature, it is recommended to use polyimide glass fiber substrate. For PCB where the requirement is one of thermal dissipation, a metal base substrate is recommended.

Types of PCB Substrate Material

Commonly used PCB substrate material includes Copper clad laminate or what is popularly known as CCL. In turn, CCL can be categorized as below:

Rigid CCL

This includes the following:

  1. Paper based Phenolic CCL
    With its low cost, the use of this is ubiquitous. The consumer electronics, industry, particularly sees its wide spread use.
  2. Paper-Based Epoxy CCL
    This is largely used in through-hole PCB in the consumer electronics industry.
  3. Paper-Based Polymer CCL
    This kind of CCL finds extensive use in the Color TV and stereo industry, primarily on account of its anti-CAF characteristics.
  4. Fiberglass Epoxy CCL
    This is the most widely used CCL when it comes to telecommunications, medical care, CPU and more. The key characteristics that endear it to many industries include its:
    • Heat resistance
    • Chemical resistance
    • Dimensional stability
    • Electric insulation and more
  5. Paper-Based Polymer CCL
    This kind of CCL finds extensive use in the Color TV and stereo industry, primarily on account of its anti-CAF characteristics.

Composite CCL

This CCL is known to work well on single-sided and through-hole PCBs as also for SMT assembly on thin PCB boards. In addition CEM-3 composite CCL is also preferred on account of its:

  • Moisture resistance
  • Heat resistance
  • Dimensional stability

In choosing PCB Material, another aspect that needs to be kept in mind is its Fire Resistance. It is therefore advisable to go for FR4 grade of material. FR4 in turn can be further subdivided into a number of classifications:

A1 – This is largely used in industries such as:

  • Automobile
  • Telecommunication
  • Industrial instrument and more, on account of it being high on performance and durability

A2 – This finds application in:

  • Home appliances
  • Electronic Products
  • PCs

This grade is known to be cost-efficient, which also explains its ubiquitous usage.

A3 – This grade is typically used in common electronic products such as:

  • Toys and games
  • Calculators and more

A3 is known for its extremely low price and compatibility with product functions.

A fair understanding of the above factors leads to usage of the right PCB material management, which in turn, is critical in the functioning of the PCB and in turn, of the final product.

Choosing the right PCB Manufacturer can go a long way in ensuring that there are no costly errors to pay for, as the product is ready for release.

Technotronix adopts advanced PCB production techniques and manufacturing practices with specialization in a varied range of PCB fabrication process, producing high quality multi-layered PCBs from tailor-made layouts. With over 40 years of combined experience in rendering high tech PCB assembly and manufacturing services, we are not just an assembler, we can completely test at board level to box build level to provide the benefit of unparalleled technical expertise and the most progressive solutions at competitive prices.

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