The application fields of PCB

(1) Electronic equipment manufacturing

In the field of electronic equipment manufacturing, PCB boards play a crucial role. From the smart phones and tablet computers we use daily to high-performance laptops, PCB boards provide stable and reliable connections and support for electronic components such as chips, resistors and capacitors within them. Take smart phones as an example. The PCB board inside them integrates an extremely complex circuit system and realizes multiple key functions such as communication, data processing and storage. With the continuous improvement of performance and size requirements for high-end electronic products, the application of multi-layer PCB boards is also becoming increasingly widespread.

(II) The telecommunications industry

The demand for PCB boards in the communication industry is equally huge. Core components such as mobile base stations, routers and mobile communication devices all rely heavily on high-performance PCB boards to achieve high-speed and stable data transmission. Especially in the 5G communication era, PCB boards need to have higher frequencies and speeds to cope with the demands of huge data traffic and low latency.

(III) Automotive Industry

With the electronic transformation of the automotive industry, the application of PCB boards in this field is becoming increasingly prominent. From the electronic control systems of automobiles, such as engine control units and braking systems, to in-vehicle entertainment and navigation systems, PCB boards play an indispensable role.

(4) Medical industry

Medical equipment has extremely strict requirements for the precision and reliability of PCB boards. High-end medical devices such as electrocardiogram machines, CT scanners, and magnetic resonance imaging machines all rely on PCB boards for precise data collection and processing. Especially in devices like pacemakers that are crucial to patients' lives, the stability of the PCB board directly affects the patients' life safety. With the continuous advancement of medical technology, the demand for high-performance PCB boards will also continue to increase.

Next, we will delve into the characteristics of high-quality PCB boards.

※ Appropriate copper thickness of the hole wall

High-quality PCB boards usually have an appropriate copper thickness for the hole walls. This range is usually set between 10um and 20um, but for products that need to handle large currents, the copper thickness may exceed 25.4um. Taking regular finished products as an example, for 1OZ thick hole copper, after full-board electroplating according to the IPC secondary standard, its thickness usually falls within the range of 5-7um, while the thickness after pattern electroplating reaches 13-15um. In this way, the total thickness of the hole copper is approximately 18 to 22 microns. Considering the losses caused by etching and other process factors, the final thickness of the hole copper is maintained at around 20 microns. This appropriate copper thickness of the hole walls helps enhance the stability of the PCB board, reducing potential issues such as hole blowing, degassing, inner layer separation or hole wall breakage, thereby ensuring stable operation under various practical usage conditions.

※ Excellent cleanliness

The cleanliness of the PCB board should not be ignored either. IPC has established strict standards for cleanliness, for instance, ionic residues should be less than 1.56μg/cm ² nacl equivalent. To meet this standard, it is necessary to thoroughly remove contaminants such as residues, solder accumulation and ionic residues from the circuit board to reduce the potential risk to the solder mask and prevent corrosion and contamination of the soldering surface, thereby ensuring its reliability. Especially in the aerospace field, as the size of PCB boards continues to shrink and their complexity increases, any contaminants may cause serious consequences such as coating defects, corrosion, signal loss, and even component failure. Therefore, thoroughly removing contaminants from the PCB before conformal coating is a key step to ensure its reliable operation.

※High-quality ink

High-quality PCB ink possesses multiple key characteristics. They have appropriate viscosity and thixotropy, extremely high fineness, and the particle size is usually no more than 4/5 microns. PCB inks are mainly divided into three categories: circuit inks, solder mask inks and character inks. Line ink is used to protect circuits, solder mask ink serves as insulation and anti-oxidation, and character ink is used for marking and explanation. High-quality ink can ensure the quality of circuit board printing, enhance the authenticity of image reproduction, and provide effective protection for circuits. In contrast, poor-quality ink may cause problems such as adhesion, flux resistance and hardness, which in turn can lead to serious consequences such as the detachment of the solder mask from the circuit board, short circuits and corrosion. 

With the rapid development of technology, PCB boards are facing unprecedented development opportunities and challenges.

First of all, high-density integration will become an important development direction for PCB boards. With the continuous enhancement of the functions of electronic devices, the integration requirements for PCB boards are becoming increasingly strict. Advanced technologies such as micro-circuits and three-dimensional stacking are gradually entering practical applications, further reducing the size of circuit boards and significantly increasing the density of components, thereby meeting the strict requirements of high-performance computers, smart phones and other devices for processing power and volume.

Secondly, packaging technology will become increasingly complex and diverse. To cope with the trend of miniaturization and multi-functionality of electronic products, advanced technologies such as wafer-level packaging and system-level packaging are constantly emerging. These technologies not only enhance the performance and reliability of PCB boards, but also effectively save space and materials and reduce production costs.

Furthermore, flexible PCB technology is expected to achieve a major breakthrough. Flexible PCB boards, with their unique characteristics of being bendable and foldable, are gradually meeting the design requirements of emerging products such as wearable devices and foldable screen mobile phones. With the advancement of technology, its flexibility, durability and reliability will be further enhanced, thus enabling it to exert its application potential in more fields.

In addition, high-speed signal transmission will also become the key to the future development of PCB boards. With the rapid development of technologies such as 5G, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the requirements for data transmission speed and quality are increasing day by day. The PCB board will adopt more advanced materials and designs to reduce signal loss and delay, ensuring high-speed and stable data transmission.

Meanwhile, the concept of green environmental protection will be more deeply implemented in the manufacturing of PCB boards. Manufacturers will choose more environmentally friendly materials and clean production processes to reduce pollution to the environment and meet consumers' demands for green and sustainable products.

Finally, intelligent manufacturing will become a new trend in the PCB board industry. By introducing Industry 4.0 technologies, such as automated production equipment, intelligent inspection systems and big data analysis, the production efficiency and quality of PCB boards will be significantly improved, thereby reducing production costs and enhancing the market competitiveness of enterprises.