The materials that you use for printed circuit board design are very important and choosing the wrong type can cause serious problems. To help combat this, we have put together some advice on how you can go about choosing the right PCB materials for your project. Find out more about this in the article below.
Electrical Properties
The first thing that you are going to need to think about when choosing your PCB materials is the electrical properties of them. In PCB manufacturing, the materials will play a huge part and if you have not thought carefully about their electrical properties then you could come across some serious issues. Some of the properties that you need to consider include the electric strength, the dielectric constant and the volume resistivity. Your manufacturer should be able to give you some more information on the electrical properties so make sure to get in touch.
Type Of Copper Foil
Depending on the manufacturer that you choose, you might come across some different types of copper foil. If you are planning on designing a rigid-flex board then you might want to consider using rolled copper foil.For rigid boards, you should consider using electro-deposited copper foil as this tends to work a lot better for this type of board. Think carefully about the type of board that you are designing, and you should be able to make the decision on the type of copper foil.
Copper Resistance Values
Once you have thought about the copper foil type that you are going to use, you’ll need to think about the copper resistance values that come with these. You will find that it is really important to understand the exact copper distributed resistance that comes with your board. There is aspecial formulathat you can use to calculate this so make sure to try that out.
Finished Board Thickness
The final thing that you should think about when you are choosing the right PCB materials is the finished board thickness. You need to be sure that the thickness is correct and that you are calculating it properly. Make sure to measure it from copper-to-copper as this will give you an accurate calculation. Once you are aware of your finished board thickness, you can be sure that it is correct and that you have chosen the right sort of materials.
Summary
When you are designing a printed circuit board, it is really important that you choose the right materials. Not only will the wrong materials cause you to waste money, but you’ll also waste valuable time on the project that you are working on. Think carefully about everything that we have discussed in this article and ensure that you are thinking about all of these different elements carefully. Once you have chosen the right materials, you can be sure that it is safe to go ahead with your design and eventually send it off for manufacture.