Circuit boards are used in many different industries to support the function of electronics in everything from personal computers to hospital equipment. A printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically connects and electronically supports electrical or electronic parts with conductive traces, pads and even other features etched on one or more layers of non-resonant copper thinned onto and/or beneath sheet layers of a conductive substrate. Most circuit boards are comprised of a positive and negative wire layer. When layers are mixed, it creates a conductive layer that can be very thin at the top or very thick at the bottom or in some cases even a combination of both.
Circuit Boards – Pros and Cons of Printed Circuit Boards
Most circuit boards are also designed with wiring in addition to the electrical interfaces, but they may still be soldered to an underlying support material such as a substrate or aluminum core. Wire traces are typically copper, but other metallic materials can also be used including brass, steel, gold, silver, and copper alloys. The thickness of the wire, its diameter, its plating depth and the electrical properties of the conductor can all have an impact on how well a circuit board will perform and what it is capable of handling. Although most circuit boards are simplex designs, which allow for the transfer of power from one source to another without any extra component added, there are many other varieties of circuit boards on the market today that are multi-functional and multi-coastal. These include ATMEL (an ATM switch interconnect), IDEM (an I/O device that is integrated into an ATM), MPPM (memory power modules) and others.
The electronics industry has become increasingly involved in the development of aerospace technology and high temperatures have become a primary tool in this industry’s development. As a result, the electronics industry has developed and produced numerous varieties of high temperature circuit boards. Most aerospace circuit boards are coated with a variety of materials in order to withstand extreme temperatures; however, some specialty circuit boards are only coated with certain materials. As well as coating, some specialty circuit boards may also use small amounts of solder.