How to Manufacture PCBs

Like any other engineering process, PCB manufacturing requires strict design definitions and engineering tolerances. Circuit board manufacturers work hard to meet both your project needs and those engineering standards. Some become generalists who meet a wide variety of PCB production needs and others become specialist known industry-wide for their depth of skill. No matter what services they provide, however, the PCB manufacturing process is the same for all fabrications.

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PCB Manufacturing Steps

You will probably never create a printed circuit board from scractch, but understanding the steps in the process can be very helpful when dealing with a PCB manufacturer. The following are the general steps in the PCB manufacturing process:

1.Generating Film

Photographic film of your design is created.

2.Shearing Raw Material

Industry standard boards of 0.059" thickness, double-sided, and copper-clad are created.

3.Holes Are Drilled

Through holes are drilled using NC machines and carbide drills.

4.Applying Electroless Copper

Proper component lead contact in the hole barrels is ensured by applying a thin layer of copper.

5.Applying Image

A dryfilm is applied to the panel The panel is exposed by a photographic process that used a light source to transfer the design to the panel Just like photography, some areas of the board are develop and others aren't

6.Pattern Plating

Copper is built into the holes and trace area by an electrochemical process. The surface is then coated with tin.

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7.Strip & Etch

After the dryfilm is removed, the exposed copper is etched away to reveal the circuit design. The tin applied in Step 6 protects the circuitry.

8.Solder Mask Application

A solder mask is applied to the entire board except for the solder pads.

9.Solder Coat Application

The board is submerged into a tank of liquid solder to apply solder to the solder pads.

10.Applying Nomenclature

Silk screening is used to apply nomenclature information.

11.Fabricating the Board

The finished board is then routed from the larger panel using NC equipment.

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Multilayer boards and boards with specific production requirements will go through different steps, but all boards follow this basic manufacturing process.