Knowledge

Environmental Classification: Solder paste is classified as leaded or lead-free (environmentally friendly). Lead-free solder paste is widely used in compliance with strict environmental regulations, especially for exported products. Lead-free soldering, particularly for components like BGA and QFN, often requires high-silver content pastes, which are more expensive. Read More

Surface Mount Technology (SMT) inspections encompass various methods, including manual visual inspection, automatic optical inspection (AOI), X-ray inspection, and specialized tests such as ICT and flying probe tests. The choice of method depends on the specific stage and requirements of the process. Manual Visual Inspection is cost-effective and requires no programming but lacks reliability and scalability for modern high-density PCB assemblies, especially for components like 0201 and 01005. Enhanced visual tools such as microscopes and specialized instruments partially address these limitations. Read More

Boundary Scan Testing, introduced in the 1990s by the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG), was developed to address testing challenges arising from the miniaturization and high-density designs of modern PCBs. Traditional in-circuit testing (ICT) methods struggled with the increased complexity, making boundary scan testing a vital alternative. Read More

These PCB types cater to a range of electronic applications, from simple to highly complex, supporting advancements in electronic information technology. Read More

PTH and Stiffener Requirements: FPCs are typically thin and do not include plated through holes (PTH) unless specified by customers. When stiffeners are used, precise groove depths are needed to ensure flatness, especially under components. Groove Depth Accuracy: For stiffeners beneath components, grooves must match the stiffener thickness (e.g., 0.15-0.2 mm for a 0.2 mm stiffener). For non-direct placements, grooves can exceed the stiffener thickness. Milling and Silicone Paper: To improve production efficiency, milling sunk areas should exceed FPC size by 0.02-0.04 mm. Adding silicone paper can improve flatness, requiring adjustments to sunk area depth to account for paper thickness. Read More

PCBA board cleaning is essential for removing solder residues produced during SMT and THT processes, including wave soldering, reflow soldering, and manual soldering. The purpose of cleaning is to enhance the product’s lifespan by maintaining surface resistance and preventing leakage. Residues, such as organic acids and decomposable ions, can corrode PCBs and lead to short circuits, making thorough cleaning inevitable to meet cleanliness standards and customer expectations. Read More

With increased EMI/EMC requirements and the use of RF shields, "AOI before reflow" has emerged as a preventive measure. It identifies defects like missing parts, alignment issues, and polarity errors prior to reflow, reducing post-soldering defects. It is particularly critical for designs involving shielding cases or large components that obstruct post-reflow inspection. By integrating "AOI before reflow," manufacturers can catch and correct defects early, improve production efficiency, and ensure comprehensive quality assurance in complex designs. Read More

The introduction of PCB-ECI aims to ease the adoption of smart manufacturing in Taiwan's PCB industry. While large PCB factories are increasingly automating their production materials, many small and medium-sized factories are unsure where to begin or face prohibitive costs. PCB-ECI facilitates easier entry into intelligent manufacturing by streamlining equipment communication and enabling the integration of production data. This real-time monitoring of production status, automatic line changes, and preemptive equipment diagnostics will improve efficiency and reduce production downtime. Read More

These checks include verifying the location of components according to the IPC-610-D standard, checking for missing components, impurities, scattered components, and damaged components. Any defects found must be corrected, and the cause of the defect must be identified. Components removed from the placement process cannot be reused. Quality control measures involve a detailed audit of each step in the placement process, including equipment maintenance, adherence to ESD guidelines, and a 100% visual inspection after line transformations. Additionally, the use of production raw materials such as cleaners, grease, and adhesives must comply with relevant regulations. Read More

SMT processing plays a crucial role in the electronic product manufacturing process, and the professional cooperation between the client and the SMT factory significantly impacts timely delivery and product quality. When evaluating an SMT processing factory, key factors include the attitude of cooperation, quality control, and employee and management appearance. Read More

Chip capacitors are among the most widely used components in SMT processing, playing a crucial role in ensuring the reliable performance of circuit boards. With the ongoing demand for miniaturization, high-speed performance, and low-cost solutions in electronic products, chip capacitors are evolving rapidly. To ensure their proper function, several technical indicators are important for selecting the right chip capacitors. Read More

Key to the success of SMT placement are precise control over the placement process, machine parameters, and quality monitoring. Regular maintenance of the placement machine and careful monitoring of placement quality are essential to avoid errors such as incorrect components, misplaced parts, or damaged components. Additionally, the machine's suction nozzles should be kept clean to prevent image processing errors caused by dust or foreign objects on the nozzle’s reflective surface. The rejected chip box is used to collect defective components identified by the image processing system, while the scrapped belts box accumulates waste materials. Both need regular maintenance to ensure efficient operation and prevent problems such as poor suction or insufficient vacuum, which could negatively impact the placement quality. Regular cleaning of these boxes is vital for maintaining the machine's performance and ensuring consistent production quality. Read More

Online burning offers significant advantages over offline methods, including reduced production costs, higher efficiency, and better compatibility with automated production lines. It eliminates the need to disassemble chips for reprogramming, simplifies fault rectification, and integrates seamlessly with functional test machines (ICT and FCT) for full automation. As automation advances, online burning has become a critical indicator of a PCBA manufacturer’s process precision, production efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality control capabilities. This trend highlights the growing importance of online burning in modern PCBA manufacturing processes. Read More

Tooling holes are essential for PCB testing, requiring at least two uncoated holes positioned diagonally with precise tolerances. Double-sided PCBs should aim for single-sided testability by ensuring through-holes on the SMD side can serve as test points on the DIP side. Special considerations include avoiding fragile SMT components as test points and ensuring proper test pad placement near vias. The guidelines aim to enhance test efficiency, minimize fixture costs, and improve test accuracy in ICT processes. Read More

ICT fixtures can test a range of components, including resistors, capacitors, inductors, crystal oscillators, and integrated circuits, while diagnosing process issues such as solder shorts, incorrect insertions, or missing components. Automated testing allows quick fault detection and accurate fault localization, reducing maintenance complexity and enhancing production efficiency. As the first test procedure in production lines, ICT testing plays a critical role in ensuring manufacturing quality and enabling timely process improvements in large-scale production environments. Read More

This text explains two common soldering methods in PCBA processing: reflow soldering and wave soldering. Reflow soldering involves using solder paste to connect tiny electrical components to contact pads, which are then heated in a controlled environment to form permanent solder joints. This method is primarily used for SMD (surface-mount device) components. In contrast, wave soldering is a batch process where PCBs pass through a molten solder wave to solder components, commonly used for through-hole components. Key differences include the presence of solder on the PCB before heating in reflow soldering versus its application during the process in wave soldering, as well as their suitability for different component types. Both methods are integral to modern PCB assembly. Read More

This text outlines the fundamental principles of PCB design, focusing on component layout and wiring guidelines. It emphasizes the balanced, dense, and orderly placement of components, prioritizing key components like microprocessors and memory based on data flow and proximity. Memory modules are recommended to be placed side by side to minimize trace lengths. The layout should align with the signal flow while considering mechanical structure, heat dissipation, and EMI factors. Wiring principles highlight the importance of meeting current-carrying requirements, maintaining appropriate spacing to prevent insulation breakdown, and ensuring clear and simple traces. Special attention is given to parallelism in signal lines to reduce interference and improve PCB stability through techniques like copper pouring. Read More

Flexible printed circuits (FPCs) are increasingly used in smartphones for connecting various modules such as display, fingerprint sensors, cameras, antennas, and vibrators. The adoption of dual- and triple-camera systems, as well as OLED and AMOLED displays, is driving the demand for FPCs. The camera module market is growing rapidly, with the introduction of dual-camera systems by companies like Huawei, Vivo, and Apple. Additionally, foldable smartphones are boosting the demand for flexible AMOLED displays. The shipment of flexible AMOLEDs has increased significantly, and it is expected to continue growing. FPC usage in smartphones is also increasing, with flagship models like the iPhone X using up to 20 pieces. While major smartphone brands like Apple and Samsung have historically sourced FPCs from suppliers in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, there is increasing potential for Chinese suppliers to enter the market and replace imports. Read More

In PCB design, electromagnetic interference (EMI) is radiated from the edges of the power and ground layers due to the electric field between them. To mitigate this, the power layer can be retracted to reduce EMI radiation. The 20H rule suggests that shrinking the power layer by 20 times the thickness of the medium (H) between the power and ground layers can contain 70% of the electric field within the ground layer, and by 100H, it can contain 98%. This rule is crucial for reducing edge radiation in power supply planes, especially for EMC compliance. The rule applies under specific conditions, including short rise/fall times of current fluctuations, internal power planes with adjacent 0V planes, non-resonating power bus structures, and multi-layer PCB designs (at least 8 layers). Read More

To reduce crosstalk in PCB design, it is important to ensure that the line spacing is large enough. The 3W principle suggests that the line center spacing should be at least three times the line width to minimize signal interference. Following this principle can reduce crosstalk by 70%, and increasing it to 10W can reduce it by nearly 98%. The principle is based on the physical characteristics of the signals and stack height. For a four-layer board, 3W is sufficient, but for a two-layer board, the spacing may need to be larger, particularly for high-speed signal routing. The 3W principle is typically applied to long-distance routing of high-speed signals such as clock lines and differential pairs, though not all wiring on the board needs to comply with this rule. Read More

China's PCB industry has matured with strong domestic demand and significant manufacturing advantages, attracting foreign-funded enterprises. The country is a major production base for single-layer and multi-layer PCBs, with a growing focus on the mid-to-high-end market. The "Made in China 2025" initiative, along with emerging technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and IoT, is driving further growth. The 5G era, in particular, is creating substantial demand for communication PCBs as network infrastructure expands. By 2024, China's PCB output value is expected to exceed $43.8 billion. The demand for high-performance, high-frequency PCBs is increasing as emerging markets require advanced, high system integration solutions, placing higher demands on raw materials and PCB manufacturing technologies. Read More

The ID memory stores information like battery type and manufacture date, helping to trace and limit the application of the battery. For single-core battery protection, the design is simpler but requires precise components to manage voltage platforms, while multi-core battery protection boards have more complex requirements. Protection boards ensure battery safety during charging and discharging by detecting abnormal voltage or current levels and shutting off the power when necessary. Read More

The design of a clean room involves careful consideration of the ground, wall, ceiling, doors, and windows. Key features include an annular seal corridor outside the room to buffer external pollution, flat and seamless floors that are resistant to wear, corrosion, and static electricity, and smooth, dust-free walls with anti-mildew and anti-static properties. The ceiling is typically made from color steel sandwich panels for their strength, thermal insulation, and low dust generation. Fire resistance is also a critical consideration in both the structure and materials used, with a focus on minimizing the use of polymer synthetic materials to reduce smoke during a fire. Read More

The evolution of PCBs saw significant progress in the 1950s and 1960s with the introduction of materials like polyimide, the plated-through-hole method, and the rise of multilayer and flexible PCBs. By the 1970s, flexible PCBs made from polyimide and new methods for layer-added PCBs emerged, leading to innovations such as the Pactel and Polyimide Cooper methods. In the 1980s and 1990s, companies like Siemens, IBM, and Panasonic further advanced PCB technology with methods like the "Microwiring Substrate" and "ALIVH" methods, continuing to refine the production of multilayer and surface-mount PCBs. Read More

As a more popular product form in the past two years, the smart bracelet has attracted more and more people's attention. Although it cannot be accepted by all, its production has indeed caused some changes in the electronic product market.A smart bracelet usually consists of a radio frequency cir Read More

In the power conditioning process, although there are some problems in controlling multiple loops at the same time, if we can understand the constraints of the system, we can come up with a feasible strategy.Most power supplies have a fixed adjustable voltage that can be single input and single o Read More

Environmental regulations and production limits in the glass fiber industry have led to tighter supply conditions. In the case of epoxy resin, price pressures are linked to global crude oil prices and environmental compliance requirements. As a result, CCL manufacturers, being more concentrated than PCB manufacturers, possess stronger bargaining power and are able to pass on cost increases to the PCB sector. High-end PCB manufacturing, particularly in the fields of communications, industrial control, medical, and consumer electronics, is dominated by a few leading manufacturers who have a long certification cycle and strong bargaining power. These dynamics suggest that price increases in upstream raw materials are likely to lead to higher costs for CCL and, by extension, for high-end PCB products. Read More

Copper Clad Laminate (CCL) is a fundamental material for PCB production, consisting of a reinforcing material immersed in resin and coated with copper foil. Read More

Electroless Plating Copper Rate Determination: A specific procedure involves measuring the copper plating rate on an epoxy substrate, using a weight-based method before and after immersion in the electroless copper solution. A precise rate is essential to avoid defects like voids or rough plating. Etching Solution Rate: The etching rate for copper foils is critical for ensuring proper bonding with the copper-clad layer. This is measured by etching copper laminates with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, with the etching rate calculated by comparing the specimen's weight before and after etching. Woven Glass Test Method: This test evaluates the activation, reduction, and copper immersion processes during electroless plating. Woven glass specimens are used to verify the effectiveness of the copper plating solution, with successful activation indicated by a change in color after immersion in the copper plating solution. Read More

This method has revolutionized testing for low yield and quick-turn assembly products by significantly reducing testing development time—from weeks to mere hours—thereby accelerating product design cycles and time-to-market. The flying probe tester operates with a high-speed XY mechanism, utilizing 8 probes to test components on the unit under test (UUT). It checks for shorts, opens, and component values, and features a camera system for verifying component presence, such as polar capacitors. With positioning accuracy in the 5-15 micron range, the flying probe tester can precisely detect faults. This technology not only improves testing efficiency but also eliminates the need for experienced test development engineers, saving both manpower and time. Read More