Hobbyists, Designers, and low volume manufacturers can\u00a0make reasonable quality Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) with very little\u00a0investment in equipment. All that is needed is an etching tank and the\u00a0chemicals required to develop and etch the PCB. The process is fairly
\nsimple and can produce good quality boards using readily available PCB\u00a0material.<\/p>\n
The copper clad material should be clean and free of\u00a0contaminants and oxidation. Using prepackaged PCB material is\u00a0preferred since the packaging protects the copper surface. There are\u00a0two types of commonly available PCB material, phenolic and fiberglass.\u00a0The phenolic material is cheaper but is harder to cut and machine. The\u00a0fiberglass material is slightly more expensive but is easier to handle\u00a0after the PCBs have been etched.<\/p>\n
Various methods may be used to transfer the electronic circuit\u00a0design to the copper material. The most common are direct layout and\u00a0photographic transfer. The photographic method produces a more\u00a0professional looking board but requires the use of a developer similar to\u00a0that used in photography. The direct layout method requires fewer\u00a0processing steps but is not well suited for multiple PCBs.<\/p>\n
Using the direct layout method, the PCB traces are directly\u00a0\u201cdrawn\u201d on the copper material using ink or paint or applied using\u00a0precut adhesive backed tape. After all traces have been \u201cdrawn\u201d on the\u00a0copper, the unprotected copper is etched away using either ferric\u00a0chloride or ammonium persulfate. After the undesired copper has been\u00a0removed, the ink or paint must be removed from the desired copper\u00a0traces that remain. The resulting PCB can now be cleaned and the required components may be soldered in place.<\/p>\n
The photographic transfer method requires additional processing\u00a0steps of artwork preparation and image exposure and developing. The\u00a0artwork may be prepared using precut tape, as in the direct layout\u00a0method, except the traces are applied to a clear plastic sheet. More\u00a0often the artwork is prepared using a CAD program to create the\u00a0desired traces and then printed on a clear plastic sheet. The copper clad\u00a0PCB material must be coated with the photo-resist material. It is best to\u00a0use pre-coated PCBs as the photo-resist chemical is more evenly applied\u00a0to the copper surface and is easier to process. The artwork is then\u00a0transferred to the copper material using a source of light that will cause\u00a0an image of the traces to be transferred to the copper surface. The\u00a0image on the PCB is now developed using a chemical that causes the\u00a0image to solidify on the copper surface and protect the desired copper\u00a0areas from the etchant solution. The PCB may now be etched as in the\u00a0direct layout method using the same chemicals and procedure that was\u00a0outlined above.<\/p>\n
The processes described above permit the hobbyist, small\u00a0manufacturer or DIYer to produce quality PCBs with little expenditure\u00a0for equipment. The process is relatively safe and is easily repeated for\u00a0multiple circuit boards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hobbyists, Designers, and low volume manufacturers can\u00a0make reasonable quality Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) with very little\u00a0investment in equipment. All that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pcb"],"yoast_head":"\n