Printed Circuit Boards

by Howie Liu Electronics Engineer

The printed circuit boards are known as PCBs which is a plate or board being used for the placement of different components to make an electrical or electronic device. There are inter connections in between different components of the circuit boards in the form of routes of copper. The simplest of the circuit board is having the traces of coppers which are inter connecting different components of the device. The circuit boards come in a variety of different layers such as layer 1, layer 2, and layer 3 etc.

circuit board 1.png

The Solder Mask

For the generation of the electrical components, the process of assembly is needed. For this process a dedicated machinery is required. The assembly process is achieved by soldering the components over the circuit board. For the prevention of the circuit boards to be short circuited accidently, solder mask is being used by the manufacturers of the printed circuit boards which is separating two nets apart. The common color of the solder mask used is green, moreover, blue, or red is also used.

Overlay

The overlaying is the process of when the manufacturing company is printing the information of the design on to the solder mask. This process is done in order to simplify the process of assembly as well as the repair and the process of verification. The overlay is being printed on to the test points and the position of the orientation and referencing of the components which are being placed on the circuit.

The Pads

The pads are the small surfaces of the copper on the circuit boards which are allowing the soldering of the components on to the board. The pads are the pieces of copper where the tops of the components are lied to be sold.

The Copper Tracks

The copper tracks are the paths of copper for the conduction of the electrical components being sold to the circuit board. circuit board 2.png