Everyone must have seen a green (mostly) board with copper tracks on it and components soldered to the board.
It is a fixed circuit connection board that is used to make electronic circuits more viable. If the circuit is basic, then the testing circuit can be on a zero PCB/breadboard. Then, a fixed circuit can be made on a successful trial.
The base layer of a PCB is an insulating layer on which copper conducting paths are laid. PCB can be made one layer on another, which is called a multi-layer PCB. The material of this layer is generally a FR-4, fiberglass/ epoxy composite.
Electrical components are connected through these conducting paths. The soldering technique is used to fix the electrical components on the board. In which solder (tin+lead) alloy is melted and fixed to the leads of components and copper track.
Multilayer PCB has a bias (holes) drilled through which one layer connects to the other.
Two popular types of components are used to manufacture PCBs
- Through hole
- SMD (Surface Mounting Devices)
Through-hole components have leads/ legs that pass through the PCB, and soldering is done on the other and on other.
SMD components are mounted on the same surface and are generally very small as compared to normal through-hole components.
Solder mask is a non-conductive layer that gives PCBs their green color. It is used as an insulating layer that is applied to the PCB.
Silkscreen is a layer that is used for labeling or printing some message on PCB, like component name, symbol, numbering, website name, brand name, etc.
Examples of a few components used in PCB manufacturing are as follows.
- Resistor
- Capacitor
- Inductor
- Diode
- Transistor
- IC (Integrated Circuits) etc.