Practical Electronics

Printed Circuit Board Fabrication

Objectives
• Describe the fundamental process for making a PCB.
• Design and layout a printed circuit board from schematic
diagram.
• Discuss how to transfer a design to a copper-clad board
using hand transfer, direct transfer or screen printing
technique.
• Identify techniques to remove the excess copper from a
copper-clad board on which a design if formed.
• Explain how to drill the appropriate holes in an etched
printed circuit board.
• Identify the purpose and parts of a material safety data
sheet (MSDS)
PCB MANUFACTURE
FLOW CHART PROCESS
Introduction
• In the past, all PCB has only one sided traces.
• Today, PCB has double trace layers or double
sided boards.
• Complex board may have four or more trace
layers with each layer insulated from the other
board material.
• Special multilayered board may have eight or
more trace layers.
Fundamentals
• PCB – consist of an insulating base material,
which supports the copper traces.

• Insulating base material is epoxy fiberglass,

ceramic and teflon.

• Standard thickness is 1/16”

• Resist – the desired traces are printed onto the
copper with a material.

• Ferric chloride or ammonium persulphate – are

etchants most often used for etching small
quantities of PCB.

• Commercial PCB use different chemicals that are

less expensive such as ammonium chloride.

• They heat and bath and add agents to improve

performance.
• After washing and cleaning the etched board the
result is a copper circuit pattern on an insulator
base – PCB
• Two designated layers for single side PCB,
▫ The component side
▫ Solder side

• In theory, a single layer is all that is necessary

with through-hole passive components and
discrete transistors.
• SMT (Surface Mount Technology) – allows
components to be placed on both sides of the
PCB.

• Two additional layers, the silkscreen layer and

the solder mask layers are applied to a printed
circuit board after it is etched.

• Both conventional through hole and SMT layout

are viewed from the component side or top.
Component Layout Layer
• The component layout layer act as the map when
assembling and troubleshooting PCB.

• This layout layer consist of text and graphic

symbols to identify components with its proper
orientation.

• A good component layout layer save a lot of time

in assembly or troubleshooting.
Solder Mask
• Solder mask controls or indicates where the
SOLDER will be placed on the PCB pads during a
process called WAVE SOLDERING.

• Most RF boards have traces only on one side, with a

second layer used as ground plane to improve
performance

• More than two layers on a PCB are used for dense,

highly populated boards or for performance
consideration.
• A well organized schematic diagram that shows
smooth signal flow and complete information is
the key to effective PCB design.
• The best way to preview a schematic diagram is
to layout or view a block diagram of the circuit.

• Block diagram represents how the component

blocks are connected.

• Ex. One block diagram may represent a stage of

signal amplification with one signal entering and
one signal leaving and proceeding to the next
block.
• Digital schematic diagram appears different
from analog schematic diagrams due to differing
interconnection patterns.

• A schematic diagram should show the entire

circuit in as few drawing as possible.
A schematic diagram should show
the entire circuit as a few drawings
as possible and should use the
following technique:
• 1. Group subcircuit components together in the
drawing.
• 2. Signal flow should proceed from left to right
with input on the left and output on the right.
• 3. Voltage potentials are drawn with the highest
voltage at the top of the diagram and the lowest
at the bottom
• 4. Signal lines should cross each other as little as
possible. On digital schematic diagrams label the
connections with the appropriate signal
abbreviation rather than drawing a complete
maze of lines
• 5. Label components starting on the left or input
side of the schematic diagram and move down
and then back to the top, repeating this process
across the schematic diagram.
• 6. Critical leads should be sort or isolated from
other signals.
• 7. All external connectors and components
should be clearly indicated.
• 8. All integrated circuit pins should be labeled,
including the power supply inputs.
• 9. Any unused integrated circuit logic gates or
extra subcircuits inputs should be tied to the
appropriate power supply level to provide
stability in the circuit.
• 10. Extra components, such as bypass
capacitors, that are installed during the printed
circuit board construction process should be
added to the final schematic.
Keep in mind the following points
while the reviewing the symbols.
• 1. Components that are variable include an arrow as
part of their symbol.

• Ex. A potentiometer is a variable resistor.

• 2. Arrow also indicate the emitting or receiving of

various form of energy. Arrows pointing away from
a symbol indicate it is giving off energy, such as
light-emitting diode (LED). If the arrow is pointing
toward a symbol it indicates it receiving energy,
such as photocell.
• 3. A component’s lead may be identified with
letter symbols .

• Ex. SCR leads are identified A (anode), K

(cathode) and G (gate). Transistor leads are
identified as C (collector), E (emitter), and B
(base).
• Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs,
specialty programs are also available. Specialty
programs include computer programs such as
Electronic Workbench MultiSim and New Wave
Livewire.

• Ex. PCB Wizard is used for designing circuits

and PCB layout.
LAYING OUT
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
• Breadboarding is essential to proving a circuit
design works by allowing circuits to be
assembled and altered quickly.

• During the layout process, the printed circuit

board is viewed from the top component side or
top.
TIPS on PCB LAYOUT
• 1. What is the power source? Will it be part of
the board design or external to it?
• 2. What oddly shaped or sized devices will be
mounted? Devices such as relays, switches and
large capacitors need to be identified.
• 3. How are the discrete components attached?
They need to be identified along with sockets,
pins, connectors, and mounting devices.
• 4. What are the testing and troubleshooting
considerations? They must be taken into account
to make the board accessible for test
measurements of all signals.
• 5. Will the board be mounted in an enclosure?
How much space it will use and how it will be
attached must be taken into consideration.
THREE ISSUES ADDRESS THE BEST
COMPONENT PLACEMENT.
• 1. Wasted board space – keep components in a
horizontal or vertical plane, parallel to the board
edge, to achieve a tighter layout. Avoid diagonal
placements.
• 2. Insertion of polarized components facing the
same direction to aid assembly.
• 3. Ease of troubleshooting – components should
be easy to find; try to keep input on the left side
of the board, output on the right, and power
from top to bottom of the board.
• JUMPERS – can be used for crossed traces on a
single-side board.

• A PAD is used to connect a lead from a

component or wire from an off-board
component.
Do’s and Don’ts
TRANSFERRING OF DESIGNS
Techniques
• 1. Hand Draw – the simplest technique is to
hand draw the design on the board with a resist
pen or any other permanent marker with a very
fine tip.

• Other technique is creating a resist by using CAD

or drawing program. (PCB Wizard)
• 2. Second Technique involves printing out two
positive copies of the artwork 1:1 on
transparency film. (using transfer graphix)

• 3. Third technique involves in using positive fim

transparency to create a screen for
screenprinting the circuit board.
ETCHING PCB’S
2 Techniques
• 1. Using chemicals such as Ferric Chloride or
Ammonia Persulphate
▫ CAUTION: WHEN ETCHING, ALWAYS WEAR
SAFETY GLASSES, RUBBER GLOVES, AND AN
APRON.

• 2. CNC Computer Numerical Control machine to

remove the copper and is referred to as non-
chemical.
FINISHING :
PREPARING THE ETCHED PCB
Final Checkup
• Final inspection of the PCB

• Drill Holes for the components.

• Test traces for continuity