PCB Specs & Capabilities

Printed Circuit Board Specialists

Your prototype may require any of the following technical solutions. We can design and produce the board you need.

Capability Specification

Max. No. of Layers		30
Max. Board Size		860*610
Board Thickness	Spec	Min	0.2mm		Max	6.0mm
Copper Thickness		Min	0.25oz		Max	6oz
Material	Spec	Various
Surface Finish	Spec	Various
Soldermask	Spec
Colours		Green	Various others available on request
Minimum Soldermask Thickness		0.025mm
Minimun Soldermask Bridge\Dam		0.15mm
Minimum Soldermask Clearance		0.075mm
Peelable
Colours		Blue
Minimum Feature		0.5mm
Maximum Tented Hole		3.0mm
Scoring
Angle		30 Degrees
Min. Board Thickness		0.8mm
Min. Remaining Thickness		0.3mm
Min. Distance to copper (From center of scoring line)		0.5mm
Min. Manufacturing Requirements
Min. Track		0.1mm
Min.Gap(Track\Track,Track\Pad,Pad\Pad)		0.1mm
Min. Drill Size		0.2mm	Mechanical	0.1mm	Laser
Finished Board Tolerances
Plated Drill Size		± 0.075mm
Non-Plated Drill Size		± 0.05mm
Drill Location Tolerance		± 0.05mm
Outline\Routed Slots		± 0.1mm
Line Width/Spacing		±10%
Board Thickness		±10%
Warp and Twist		0.05%
Scoring/V-Cut		± 5 degrees
Scoring Positional Tolerance		± 0.1mm
Aspect Ratio	Spec	10:01

We are constantly expanding our list of suppliers so if you have a requirement that is not on our specification page, please talk to our Sales Team.

Board Thickness

Number of Layers	Min. Thickness in mm
2	0.1
4	0.3
6	0.5
8	0.7
10	1.2
12	1.3
14	1.5
16	1.7
18	1.8
20	2.2
22	2.4
24	2.6

Materials

The rate of increase in frequency in electronics is forcing manufacturers to come up with new cost effective laminates that meet these ever changing needs. While the FR-4 range of laminates are still the most commonly used in the industry, the need for higher performance laminates offering lower dielectric constant, lower loss tangent and better performance under higher operating temperatures, has become more apparent. Therefore, we endeavour to offer as wide a range as possible to our customers.

Test Method	Materials	Blend Description	Glass Transition Temp.	Dielectric Constant			Dissaption Factor
			TG	Test Method	DK		DF		Moisture Absorption %
	Normal Tg FR-4	Flame resistant Fibre Glass Substrates which are in compliance with the standard UL-94V-0	135-145 c	DSC	4.7	@1Mhz	0.019	1Mhz
	High Tg FR-4	Flame resistant Fibre Glass Substrates which are in compliance with the standard UL-94V-0	175-185 c	DSC	4.6	@1Mhz	0.019	1Mhz
	Rogers 3006	PTFE Ceramic			3.00 ± 0.04	@10Ghz		@10Ghz	0.04
	Rogers 3006	PTFE Ceramic			6.15 ± 0.15	@10Ghz		@10Ghz	0.02
	Rogers RO4003C	Hydrocarbon Ceramic Woven Glass	>280 c		3.38 ± 0.05	@10Ghz	0.0027	@10Ghz	0.04
	Rogers RO4350B	Hydrocarbon Ceramic Woven Glass	>280 c		3.48 ± 0.05	@10Ghz	0.0037	@10Ghz	0.05
	Rogers 04233	Hydrocarbon Ceramic Woven Glass	>280 c		3.33 ± 0.05	@10Ghz		@10Ghz	0.02
IPC TM-650 2.5.5.5	Nelco N 4000 13	Epoxy Resin	200 c	TMA	3.7	@10Ghz	0.008	@10Ghz	0.1
IPC TM-650 2.5.5.5	Nelco N 4000 13 (SI)	Epoxy Resin	200 c	TMA	3.3	@10Ghz	0.007	@10Ghz	0.1
IPC TM-650 2.5.5.5	Nelco N5000	Bismalemide Triazine and Epoxy Resin blend	185 c	DSC	3.6	@10Ghz	0.014	@10Ghz	0.05
	G200	Bismalemide Triazine and Epoxy Resin blend	185 c	DSC	3.65	@10Ghz	0.015	@10Ghz	0.2
	IS400	Resin reinforced with E-Glass	150 c		4	@1Mhz	0.02	1Mhz	0.18
	IS410	Hi Performance FR4 epoxy laminate	180 c		3.87	@10Ghz	0.023	@10Ghz	0.2
	IS620	Resin	225 c		3.54	@10Ghz	0.071	@10Ghz	0.24
	MC-100MS/ES	Woven Glass Resin composite	110 c	DSC	5.4	@1Mhz	0.035	1Mhz	0.8
	Polyclad PCL-FR370HR	Epoxy Resin reinforced with E-Glass	180 c		3.92	@10Ghz	0.025	@10Ghz	0.15
	P96	Polyimide Resin	260 c		3.73	@10Ghz	0.021	@10Ghz	0.5
	CEM-3	Woven Glass Resin composite	>128 c	DSC	<5.4	@1Mhz	<0.035	1Mhz	0.5
	Taconic RF35	Ceramic-filled PTFE (Teflon™)/glass fabric	>315 c		3.5	@1.9Mhz	0.0018	@1.9Mhz	0.02
	Getek	PPO Resin reinforced with E-Glass	180 c	DMA	3.5	@10Ghz	0.01	@10Ghz	0.15
IPC TM-650 2.5.5.5	Megtron 6	PPE blend Resin	210 c	DMA	3.61	@10Ghz	0.004	@10Ghz	0.14
	IT180	Epoxy Resin Phenolic-Cured	175 c	DSC	4	@10Ghz	0.02	@10Ghz	0.12
	Shengyi S1000-2	Lead Free FR4 laminate	170 c		4.8	@1Mhz	0.013	1Mhz	0.1
	Hitachi MCL-BE-67G	Halogen Free FR4 laminate	160 – 200 c	DMA	4.4 – 4.6	@1Ghz	.009 – .011	@1Ghz	0.6 – 0.7
Discontinued	Nelco N6000	APPE(Allylated PolyphenyleneEther) Resin System	210 DMA		3.4	@10Ghz	0.009	@10Ghz
Discontinued	Nelco N6000 SI	APPE(Allylated PolyphenyleneEther) Resin System	210 DMA		3.1	@10Ghz	0.006	@10Ghz

Other available options include a range of Bergquist Thermal Clad laminates. Thermal Clad laminates are a dielectric-coated, metal base with a copper clad layer on top. Bergquist doesn’t use fibreglass, therefore giving a better thermal performance. We also offer a range of flexible printed circuit options.

Please contact us for more information.

Surface Finish

HASL	Hot Air Solder Level / Shelf Life 12 Months The process consists of immersing circuit boards in flux and then in a molten pot of solder. The excess solder is then removed using ‘air knives’ which blow hot air across the surface of the board. HASL provides a very reliable solder joint and an excellent shelf life. But due to the thickness of HASL coating, the end surface can be unsuitable for fine-pitch components.
HASL (LF)	Hot Air Solder Level / Shelf Life 12 Months The process consists of immersing circuit boards in flux and then in a molten pot of solder. The excess solder is then removed using ‘air knives’ which blow hot air across the surface of the board. HASL provides a very reliable solder joint and an excellent shelf life. But due to the thickness of HASL coating, the end surface can be unsuitable for fine-pitch components.
ENIG	Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold / RoHs compliant / Shelf Life 12 Months ENIG is a finish consisting of a two layer metallic coating of 2-4µ Au over 100-200µ Ni. The Nickel provides the barrier to the copper and is the surface to which the components are actually soldered to. The gold protects the nickel during storage and also provides the low contact resistance required for the thin gold deposits. ENIG is now arguably the most common finish used in the PCB industry due the growth and implementation of the RoHs regulation.
AG	Immersion Silver / RoHs compliant / Shelf Life 6 Months It has a controlled thickness of 5-12µ. Immersion silver is rapidly gaining popularity as the lead-free surface finish of choice. It is compatible with most assembly processes, is cheaper than ENIG, and provides a level surface suitable for fine-pitch components. The disadvantages are that it is more susceptible to temperature and humidity as well as handling. Handling with gloves is recommended to prevent tarnishing. And if left exposed to the environment, immersion silver reacts with sulfur from the environment, creating silver sulfide on the surface of the board.
ISn	Immersion Tin / RoHs compliant / Shelf Life 4 Months Immersion Tin gives a very even surface with good solder joint reliability. It is used more and more in the automotive industry as a replacement for HAL. It is a Press Fit suitable finish and is good for Fine Pitch and BGA components. Some of the disadvantages of Immersion Tin are that it is open to corrosion and the occurrence of “Tin Whiskers”. These are hair like growths of tin cause by the internal stresses in the surface layer of tin. Over time they can cause shorting. Also the process uses a carcinogen (Thiourea).
OSP	Organic Solderability Preservative / RoHs compliant / Shelf Life 6 Months OSP (Organic Solderability Preservative) or anti-tarnish preserves the copper surface from oxidation by applying a very thin protective layer of material over the exposed copper. It uses a water-based organic compound that selectively bonds to and protects the copper prior to soldering. OSP is a popular surface finish for soldering due to its low cost, easy handling, low temperature processing and its environmental friendly due to its use of metal free chemistry. The disadvantages are that it needs to be handled carefully preferably, using gloves and it is not ideal for multiple soldering processes.
Gold	Hard Gold or Flash Gold / RoHs compliant Hard Electrolytic Gold consists of a layer of gold plated over a layer of nickel. Hard gold is extremely durable, and is used mostly in high wear areas such as edge connector fingers and keypads. It is not generally applied to solderable areas, because of its high cost and its relatively poor solderability. Its thickness can vary by controlling the duration of the plating cycle, with typical values are 20-40µ Au over 120-150µ Nickel.
Carbon	RoHS compliant Carbon is often used as an alternative to Hard Gold on contacts dues to its good mechanical strength and electrical conductivity It is supplied in ink form and is applied by a printing process.

Solder Mask

Colour Range
Green	Yellow	White
Blue	Red	Black

Note: While a Minimum Clearance of 0.075mm and a Minimum Bridge width of 0.15mm is what we recommend, some suppliers can produce a Minimum Clearance of 0.05mm and a Minimum Bridge width of 0.076mm. Please specify pre-quotation if you require these higher specs.

Colours available in Matte and Gloss on request.
High Tg resistant soldermasks also available.

Silk Screen

Colour Range
White	Yellow
Black	Red

Note: Most PCB Manufacturers clip the silkscreen from the soldermask openings. Therefore, any text that is positioned over a soldermask opening will be removed.

Aspect Ratio

Definition	Aspect ratio is the ratio between the board thickness and the minimum hole size. If the board thickness is 1.6mm and the minimum hole size is 0.2mm, then the Aspect Ratio is 8:1. The smaller the hole size, the more difficult it is for the plating solution to flow through the hole, and this can result in uneven plating down the barrel of the hole.

Definitions

HDI	High Density Interconnect: A generic term for substrates or boards with a higher circuit density per unit area than conventional printed boards. Technologies associated with HDI include blind vias, via in pad, buried vias, micro vias, and laser drilling. Materials used include RCC, LDP and PP.
Via In Pad	This process allows vias to be placed directly on surface mount pads. The via is plated and filled, then capped and plated over. Various via fill materials include non-conductive epoxy, conductive epoxy, copper filled, silver filled and electrochemical plating.
Microvia	A blind hole with a diameter (=150 µm) having a pad diameter (=350µm) formed by either laser or mechanically drilling.
BVH	Buried Via Hole.
RCC	Resin Coated Copper: Used instead of Copper foil in HDI multi layer boards where Microvias are present.
LDP	Laser Drillable Prepreg.
PP	Prepreg.
Dielectric Materiel	A dielectric material is a substance that is a poor conductor of electricity, and used as an insulating layer in the PCB build up. Porcelain, mica, glass, plastics and some metal oxides are good dielectrics. The lower the dielectric loss, (the proportion of energy lost as heat) the more effective the dielectric material.
Glass Transition Temperature	Glass Transition Temperature is the temperature at which the polymer transitions from a hard glass material to a soft rubbery one. It is measured using 3 different methods. DSG (Differential Scanning Calorimetry),TMA (Thermal Mechanical Analysis), and DMA (Dynamic Mechanical .Analysis)
Micron	1um or 1 micrometer. 25.4 microns = 0.001 inch.

PCB Designer

Copper Slivers	These are small copper features which are created when a copper area is filled by an aperture which is too small and usually occur in areas where trace and pad clearance intersect. They are normally less than the minimum feature size allowed in the Design Rules and can break off and move, potentially causing shorts during the manufacturing process.
Non-Flashed Pads	When creating footprints, please created all pads using flashed apertures. Do not create pads using drawn traces. This leads to problems and extra work when creating e-test data, and can also lead to large data files, which are difficult to transfer by email.
Copper Area created using Flashed Pads	Please create all copper pour areas using traces and not using flashed pads.
Spacing violations within the same net	These are often an issue when the tracks have been created using an autorouter and the minimum clearance has not been set for same net connections.
Soldermask Bridges	The minimum soldermask bridge we recommend is 0.15mm. Bridge sizes less than this are normally located around tight pitched components and are caused when the soldermask is expanded to create the minimum clearance required for manufacture. If a soldermask bridge is found to be less than 0.15mm then it is normally removed and this can cause problems later on when soldering.
Silkscreen Text	When creating component footprints, please keep the component names 0.1mm away from the pads. When it comes to manufacturing the silkscreen is clipped from the soldermask, and if any silkscreen text is touching the soldermask pads then it will be removed. This can lead to a silkscreen which unreadable and it does not look good cosmetically. Likewise, if the text is smaller than our recommended minimum size, then it can also be unreadable when printed.
Text on Copper Layers	All manufacturers recommend that some form of text is added to the copper layers; for example, a part number or company name. This gives reassurance to the manufacturer that the board is being built correctly. As you look at the board through the top side, the text on the top side must be readable and the text on the bottom side must be unreadable.
Creating Gerber/NcDrill Outputs	Always use the same units when outputting Gerber and NcDrill files, and do not put any offsets in the outputs. This means that the gerbers can be loaded into the manufacturers CAM software without rounding errors and with the layers aligned. Make sure that the hole sizes supplied to the manufacturer are the finished hole sizes. Output gerber files in RS274X format. This format contains all the aperture information embedded in the gerber file.
NcDrill	Please remove any double drills in same location and overlapping drills before creating the drill output. This can cause drill breakages during manufacturing.
Layer Names	Give your Gerber outputs names that make the function of each layer clear to the manufacturer. “Base_1.gbx” and “Base_2.gbx” are not good names because you cannot tell what the layer function is from the name. Whereas “Base_Top.gbx” and “Base_Bottom.gbx” are good names as they provide more information about the layer function.

Customer

When requesting a quotation or placing an order with us, the information you supply is hugely important. This is your opportunity to specify exactly what you require and to ensure that we have all the necessary information to supply to you with what you require on time and to the quality standards that you expect. Lack of and conflicting information is one of the main reasons manufacturers give for delayed orders. Itemise clearly what you want.

Quantity	How many boards do you want?
Lead Time	How fast do you want your boards? If you select 10 working days, you will receive the boards on the 10th working day (this does not include Saturday or Sunday). We aim to have any engineering questions (EQs) cleared up within 24 hours and the working days begin from the time all answers are given. EQs arise when our manufacturing partners do not have sufficient information from the design files.
No. of Layers	Single Sided or 6 layers? If you require a specific layer build, then please supply it or request a copy of the manufacturer’s layer build with the quote. Most suppliers multi-layer builds will differ slightly from one to another. These slight differences may make a difference to the impedance control on your PCB.
Material and PCB Thickness	Important considerations with regard to price. Please specify clearly at quotation stage.
Surface Finish	Lead Free HAL, ENIG, Immersion Silver… or something else.
Soldermask?	What colour?
Silkscreen?	What colour? How many sides?
Peelable Mask?	What colour? Also indicate the location on the board where this is required.
Blind/Buried Vias?	Please specify between what layers. Also ensure that the required drill data is supplied along with the relevant drill sizes.
Capped Vias/Via in pad?	Not all our suppliers offer this service so if you require this, please specify at the quotation stage.
Slots?	Ensure that the location and size of these are clearly specified. Are they required plated or non-plated?
Plated Edges?	Specify at quotation stage to ensure that your data meets the manufacturers specifications.
Panel Format?	Do you require the boards to be shipped in panel format? If so please specify. Options are as follows: – Scoring – Boards routed and held together in a panel format by pips (Without or without a frame) – Or a combination of both. Please supply a detailed drawing of any panelisation required.
Markings?	Do you require any date code, UL code or other markings such as manufacturer’s logo? If so, please supply details of the location where you want the markings and details of how you want the markings on the PCBs (Copper, Soldermask or Silkscreen)
The Data	As a rule each layer of the PCB requires a separate Gerber file (RS274X format preferably) A separate gerber file is also required for the soldermask on each side of the board as well as the silkscreen layers, peelable soldermask, etc. as required. Ideally also a separate Gerber file of the board outline including any slots or cutouts is also required. Drilling information must be supplied in NC format. If the drill sizes are not included in the NC Drill files, then a separate report file with the sizes and plating details must also be sent. Make sure that the hole sizes supplied are the finished hole sizes For example, if you require a 6 Layer PCB with soldermask and silkscreen on top and bottom, then you must supply 11 Gerber files. You must also then supply an NC Drill file, which will include the plated and non-plated drills and a report specifying which drills are plated and which drills are non-plated.