PCB is an acronym used for Printed Circuit Boards. They are usually manufactured in specialized manufacturing facilities. State of the art technology is used in the manufacturing, fabrication and assembling of a PCB. Let us take a tour of a standard manufacturing facility.

First of all, the information is collected from the client. This includes the requirement details, the purpose of the electronic device for which the PCB is being manufactured, etc. After the initial data collection, the engineers construct a CAD design. A CAD system helps engineers to formulate the specifications in a detailed design so the client can review and have a picture of what their Printed Circuit Board would look like. The plating conditions, material specifications, drilling patterns, digital control patterns, and graphing are put down in one diagram representing the PCB to be manufactured.

Now comes the most important part before the manufacturing process starts, the preparation and assigning of materials to be used. The client needs to specify the purpose and product specifications of the electronic device/equipment the PCB is being formulated for. For example, products used to heat, produce friction or that are used in hot surroundings, will require heat resistant Printed Circuit boards. The inner layer material to be used is specified and then goes through the brown oxidation process. The lamination is done on the PCB substrate to protect it.

Next comes the very delicate part of drilling holes on the PCB substrate. These holes are minute ones and are done with special drills having small diameters, as the fineness and exact position of the holes is what really matters. These holes are for the assembly of various components on the PCB and are specified by the client.

Once the holes have been drilled, patterns are formed on the Printed Circuit Boards using chemical copper. There are usually two ways used for this patterning, the additive or the subtractive method.

The Printed Circuit Board panels are then plated with solder, gold or tin. This process is called panel plating. This plating is done on the inner layer; the next step is the outer layer graphing. Plating on the outer layer is either done by Copper, Tin, Nickel or Aluminum. The excess chemicals are then removed and etching is done on the panels.

A mid-test is performed at this point to ensure the PCBs are working and up to the customers’ requirements.

The last few steps of the manufacturing of a Printed Circuit board are, Profiling where the excess copper and residues are removed, whereas the etching is done in case some part lacks. Final inspection is done to make sure the PCB is as the client has required it to be. Packing & Dispatching are the last of the series and this completes our Printed Circuit Board to be sent down to the client. If required, the assembly of the parts to be connected on the PCB is also done before the final testing is performed.

This was an overview for the basic steps of manufacturing a standard Printed Circuit Board for any electronic device.