WHAT IS A PCB

Have you ever opened up your computer or phone? The PCB or printed circuit board is the flat, typically green, piece that holds all the chips and/or electrical components. Below the green solder mask/overlay,are wires/traces on the board. They connect the components, creating circuits.

A PCB that has yet to have any electrical components soldered onto it, is called a “bare board”, or more properly, a “printed circuit board”. There are however copper traces called "wiring" that have been created by printing, plating, and etching processes.

To produce a PCB you need to take the functional diagram or schematic and transform it into a piece of artwork that makes a pattern for components, holes, and circuits/wires. The PCB designer is the engineer who creates the schematic. It is similar to the plates used in printing, although technically quite different.

PCB’s range in size, and are used in a multitude of products way too extensive to list, but here are a few: cell phones, autos, computers, TV’s, flash drives, thermostats, vehicles, weapons, and video game consoles. If it’s electronic, a PCB is probably the board holding the brains behind it.

PCB VS. PCBA: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

A PCB (Printed Circuit Board) is a board that electrically connects electronic components using conductive traces, pads, and other features etched from copper foil laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. PCB’s can be single sided(one copper layer), double sided (two copper layers), or multi-layer (outer and inner layers). Conductors on different layers are connected with vias (plated-thru. holes). Multi-layer PCB’s allow for much higher component density and design complexity.

A PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) is the board after all the components and parts have been soldered and installed on the PCB and now can accomplish the electronic function it was designed for.

TYPES OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS

 Single Sided Board

The simplest of PCBs, because there is only one layer of substrate/circuitry. All electrical parts and components are generally fixed on one side with leads thru. the board holes to the copper traces/electrical connections on the other side. Single sided boards are most often thru. hole, rather than surface mount technology (SMT). Used when low level of technology is required.

Double sided Board

The most common type of board, where parts and components are attached to either side of the substrate. In such cases, double-sided PCBs have connecting traces on both the sides of the board, connected thru. plated holes. Double-sided PCBs use through-hole and/or SMT components.

Multi Layered Board

Multi-layer PCBs consists of several layers of circuitry/substrate separated by insulation/dielectrics. Most common multilayer boards are: 4 layers, 6 layers, 8 layers, and 10 layers. However, the total number of layers that can be manufactured can exceed over 42 layers. These types of boards are used in extremely complex electronic circuits.