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PCB Dictionary – Glossary of Terms and Meaning in PCB Manufacturing and Assembly

Glossary of Terms and Meaning used in PCB Manufacturing

This PCB Dictionary is Glossary of Terms and Meaning used in PCB Manufacturing and PCB Assembly Industry. Students and Teachers of Science and Electronics will find this PCB Dictionary very Useful.

PCB Dictionary

PCB Dictionary – Glossary of Terms and Meaning used in PCB Manufacturing

Active Components

Active electronic components are those that can control the flow of electricity. Different Types of Printed Circuit Boards have at least one active component. Some examples of active electronic components are transistor, vacuum tubes, silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs).

Active Electronic Components

Active Electronic Components

Annular Ring

The copper ring that connects to thru-hole wall of the Printed Circuit Board. In simple terms, it Annular Ring is the width of the conductor pad surrounding a drilled hole on any PCB.

Backplane

The supporting plane in a Printed Circuit Board that provides insulation.

Back Drilling

A Drilling process applied in Multilayer PCB Manufacturing to drill off stub between layers with no via from the back. This to ensures signal integrity.

Bevel

An angled edge of a PCB for gold fingers.

BGA

in PCB Dictionary, BGA stands for Ball Grid Array. It is a Type of SMD Electronic Component no leads. This type of surface-mount packaging is used in Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and utilizes an array of metal spheres called solder balls for electrical interconnection. Solder balls are attached to a laminated substrate at the bottom of the package.

Ball Grid Array (BGA)

Ball Grid Array (BGA)

Blind Via

The conductive surface hole that connects an outer layer with an inner layer of a Multilayer PCB.

Buried Via

A via hole that does not extend to the surface of the Printed Circuit Board.

CAD

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is a software tool to design a PCB and create data to manufacture and assemble Printed Circuit Boards.

Printed Circuit Board Design

CAM

Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) refers PCB Manufacturing Process with the help of Computer Software and files.

CAM Files

Files that provide information for PCB Manufacturing.

Carbon Mask

A type of liquid heat curing conductive carbon paste added to the pad surface.

Castellated Holes

Holes that are drilled but cut half at the edge with copper on wall of the hole.

Chamfer

Rounded Corner of a PCB to eliminate sharp edge.

Chip-on-Board (COB)

In PCB Dictionary, Chip-on-Board is a type of Surface Mount Technology (SMT) to Mounting Chip / IC directly on a PCB.

Copper Foil

The base copper sheet or clad on a PCB.

Cutout

A groove that is dug on a PCB.

Edge Connector

A connector on the edge of a PCB substrate to connect other circuit boards or electronic device.

ESD

ESD stands for Electrostatic Discharge. It can be defined as transfer of electric charge between two different objects charged to different electric potentials.

ESD

Etching

Chemically removing unwanted copper from a PCB to get the desired circuit pattern or copper track.

External Layer

External Layer or Outer Later of a PCB where Electronic Components are Soldered.

Fiducial

Fiducial is an etched feature or drilled hole used for optical alignment during PCB Assembly Process.

Fine Pitch

SMD packages with very fine pitch and larger number of leads are called fine pitch package. Quad flat pack (QFP) and shrink quad flat pack (SQFP) are examples of fine pitch package. Fine pitch packages have thinner leads and require a thinner land pattern design.

Fine Pitch SMD Packages (QFP, SQFP)

Fine Pitch SMD Packages (QFP, SQFP)

 

Flex PCB or Flexible PCB

Flex PCB (FPC) is circuit board made of thin and flexible material. As the name suggests, these Flex PCB are flexible and can be folded and are not hard as Rigid PCB.

The substrate of a flexible board is made of flexible plastic (thin insulating polymer film), polyimide or a similar polymer or Kapton. Conductive copper circuit is printed on this substrate and a protection coating of thin polymer is applied to protect the circuits.

Flex PCB

Flex PCB

FR4

A sign for rating flame resistant material. FR4 rating specifies that resin PCB Material is capable of automatically extinguishing if it comes under flame.

Gerber File

Data file used to control photoplotter.

Gold Fingers

Edge Connectors of a PCB after gold plating.

HDI

High Density Interconnector (HDI) is a type of PCB fabrication technology.

Hole Breakout

A hole that is partially surrounded by the land.

Internal Layer

Inner Layers of a Multilayer PCB.

Line Space

The distance between two adjacent conductors or traces on a Printed Circuit Board.

Line Width

The width of conductors or traces on a Printed Circuit Board.

Metal Core PCB

Metal Core PCB or Metal Base PCB or MC PCB are Printed Circuit Boards with core material as metal, such as copper or aluminum.

Microvias

Microvias are holes or vias are laser-created vary small vias.

NPTH

Non-plated through-hole.

Passive Components

Passive electronic components are those that don’t have the ability to control electric current by means of another electrical signal. Examples of passive electronic components are capacitor, resistor, inductor, transformer, and diode. Read: Active and Passive Electronic Components

Circuit Symbols of Passive Components

Circuit Symbols of Passive Components

Panelize

A PCB manufacturing process by combining different boards into one panel to increase the manufacturing efficiency.

Pattern Plating

Selective plating of a conductive pattern.

Peelable Solder Mask

A layer of solder mask that can be peeled OFF from the board.

PCB Assembly

A circuit board prior to assembly of electronic components is known as PCB. Once electronic components are soldered, the board is called Printed Circuit Assembly (PCA) or Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) or PCB Assembly.

PCB Assembly (Printed Circuit Board Assembly)

PCB Assembly (Printed Circuit Board Assembly)

PCB Assembly Drawing

Drawing that describes the requirements of a PCB Assembly.

PCB Assembly House

Factory of a PCB Manufacturing Company for PCB Assembly.

PCB House

A factory that fabricates PCB.

PCB Prototype

A Sample of the Main PCB prior to full-scale manufacturing of boards for end products.

PCB Prototype (Printed Circuit Board Prototype)

PCB Prototype (Printed Circuit Board Prototype)

Pressing

The process of producing fully cured laminated sheets  by applying heat and pressure to a book.

Press Fit Holes

Holes on a PCB through which a contact terminal can be pressed into the board.

PTFE

Woven glass material with excellent electrical and mechanical properties.

PTH

Plated Through-Hole (PTH) are copper plated holes on a PCB for conducting interconnection.

Rigid-flex PCB

Rigid Flex PCB or rigid-flex PCB is Circuit Board with combination of flexible PCB and rigid PCB.

Rigid Flex PCB

Rigid Flex PCB

RoHS

RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. A European Union (EU) directive and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products.

RoHS Substances

RoHS Substances

Schematic

The first step of a PCB design. It includes graphical circuit symbols of the electrical connections and functions of the printed circuit board.

Circuit Symbols of Electronic Components

Circuit Symbols of Electronic Components

Silk Screen

Text-based, human-readable information printed on a PCB for component placement.

SMOBC

Solder Mask Over Bare Copper (SMOBC) is a method of fabricating PCBs with the final metallization being copper and no other protective metal.

Solder Bridge

An unintended electrical connection between two conductors by means of a small blob of solder.

Solder Mask

A coating applied to a circuit board to prevent deposit of solder.

Substrate

The base material for PCB fabrication.

Surface Finish

A protection layer attached to copper foil to avoid oxidation of PCB.

Test Coupon

A sample test method used for testing to verify certain quality parameters without damaging the actual circuit board.

Tented Via

A via or hole of a PCB with dry film solder mask completely covering both its pad and plated-thru hole.

V-Scoring

V-scoring or V-cut is incomplete cut off in a PCB generally done for ease to separate PCB panel.

Via Filled with Resin

A via or hole filled with resin is a through hole with no dent on the surface of the board so that soldering is not affected.

Via in Pad

Thru hole on the pad of Multilayer PCB.

Final Words:

I Hope you found this PCB Dictionary with Glossary of Terms and Meaning used in PCB Manufacturing and PCB Assembly Industry useful. Please SHARE this PCB Dictionary so that others can also Learn. Thanks!

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Santosh Das

Santosh, founder of this Electronics Tutorial Website, is an Electronics Geek, Blogger and Young Entrepreneur. He possesses vast experience in the field of electronics, electronic components, PCB, Soldering, SMT, Telecommunication, ESD Safety, and PCB Assembly Tools, Equipment and Consumables. Keep visiting for daily dose of Tips and Tutorials.

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  1. September 7, 2019

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