A printed circuit board or PCB is the spine of current electronics. These days, they are used in everything from smartphones to computers and even vehicles, spaceships, and household appliances.
PCB or Printed Circuit Board: A Brief History
The first PCBs were developed in the late 1950s by Henry Edward Roberts at MIT, who called them “printed wiring boards.” In 1959, Roberts founded the company Printed Wiring Supplies Corporation (PWSC), which became the leading supplier of printed circuit board manufacturing equipment for decades.
In 1960, an engineer named Robert Noyce designed a prototype for an integrated circuit using a silicon wafer and copper lines etched into it by photolithography – a process that would become standard practice for making ICs. The integrated circuit was made from transistors and resistors on a single silicon wafer using photolithography to transfer the patterns from sheets of photosensitive material onto the surface of a silicon wafer. This method was later developed into microelectronics technology by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in 1958 and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in 1959/1960 when he invented the first commercial integrated circuit based on silicon semiconductor technology. Know the advantages and disadvantages of PCB.
What is a printed circuit board?
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are flat pieces of plastic or other materials with an insulating layer on one side and conductive traces on the other side. The traces are used to route electricity from one part of the board to another, while the insulating layer isolates the two sides from each other. The traces can be formed using a number of different techniques, including etching or depositing metal onto the surface using chemical or electrochemical reactions.
The design for a printed circuit board is created on a computer using software called Electronic Design Automation (or EDA). Afterward, it is sent off to be manufactured by an assembly house that has equipment designed specifically for making PCBs.
What is a multilayered PCB?
A multilayered printed circuit board is a type of PCB that has more than two layers. The PCBs are designed to function as a complete unit. A multilayered PCB will have conductive copper foil layers, dielectric layers and solder mask layers.
Multilayered printed circuit board is a multilayered circuit board that interconnects different components. The PCB is made of many layers of substrate, usually an epoxy glass material. Each layer has a copper foil on it, which is etched to create the conductor patterns. The layers are bonded together with high temperate and pressure. The process of creating the PCB includes drilling holes, plating the holes, and installing surface mount devices.
The multilayered printed circuit board is used to add more functionality to a device by increasing the number of conductors on the board. It can also be used to reduce space and weight by making multiple boards into one. By using a multilayered PCB, you can add more functionality to a device in two ways:
- Add more functionality through increased routing density
- Reduce space and weight by combining multiple boards into one
What are the different uses of a PCB?
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are used in many electronic products, ranging from the simple to the most complex. PCBs are found in mobile phones, computers, medical devices, appliances and other products that use electrical components. They are also used in a wide variety of industrial processes.
The following are a few uses for PCBs or printed circuit boards:
- To distribute power throughout an electronic device
- To connect components together electronically
- To control the current flow through a circuit
- To act as a barrier to prevent corrosion or oxidation of the electrical connections between components.