Printed circuit boards are made from a thin, flat piece of material called a “substrate.” The substrate is often made from polyimide film, which gives it strength, flexibility, and resistance to chemicals. Each layer of copper is applied using photolithography and etching to create the desired pattern for the device being assembled.
Once all the layers have been applied and etched, they are laminated together with an adhesive known as resin. This produces an electrically conductive surface that can be used as part of an electronic circuit board design. The next step involves drilling holes through each layer so that they can be connected together later on during assembly.
This process is known as drilling or punching holes. The next steps include etching, solder masking, silk screening, surface finishing, assembly, inspection, and testing. In this write-up, we talk more about PCB assembly.
The PCB assembly process is made up of 3 main steps:
PCB fabrication – The first step in the process is creating the PCBs. This may involve creating one or more layers of copper on a substrate, applying other materials like solder mask, applying components and then soldering them to the board.
Inspection – Once you have your PCBs, you need to inspect them for defects. This usually involves running an automated test suite that will look for any missing components or connections between components and traces.
Packing and shipping – After your boards pass inspection, they must be packed and shipped out as quickly as possible so that they get to their destination in time for assembly into your product.
Shipping can be tricky if you are shipping internationally because international postal services don’t always deliver on time or at all, depending on where you live and where your customer lives – especially if they are in another country with different customs regulations!
2 popular techniques of PCBA
Through Hole Technology
Through-hole technology is the most common method of assembly. It is used in almost all electronic products, including computers, smartphones and other consumer electronics. Through-hole technology requires the use of a soldering iron to solder wires or leads from one component to another on a PCB. The term “through-hole” refers to the holes on the surface of the PCB that allows for easy access for soldering.
Through-hole technology can be used for both through-hole components and surface mount components. Through hole components are those that have leads or pins that extend from their body so they can be inserted into holes on a printed circuit board (PCB). Surface mount components are those that are mounted directly onto pads on top of a PCB by being placed in sockets or soldered directly onto pads with no sockets.
Through-hole technology has been around since before computers were even invented. It was first used in vacuum tube circuits and then later in transistor circuits in the 1950s and 1960s.
Surface Mount Technology
The surface mount technique is a method of PCB assembly in which components are placed on the surface of the PCB and soldered to it. This is in contrast to the through-hole technique, where components are inserted into holes in the PCB, and soldered on all four sides of their leads. Surface-mount technology provides several advantages over through-hole mounting, including smaller size, weight reduction and lower cost.
Surface mount devices (SMD) are small components that are designed to be soldered onto a printed circuit board (PCB). SMDs have small legs that enable them to be pushed into place on the surface of a circuit board. The components can then be soldered in place without having to drill holes in the circuit board for the insertion of each individual component or solder joint.