Steps through which the fabrication of PCBs take place

With the emergence of Printed Circuit Board technology, the electronic industry transformed from labor-intensive manufacturing to automated manufacturing.
Printed circuit board is, a board with multiple electrical components are mounted on it and are inter-connected to each other through copper pathways, used to build electronic devices. They do not just connect components using copper traces etched over board’s surface, but also make them mechanically strong.  The basic building blocks of modern electronics, PCBs are found in electronics of various industries such as consumer electronics, telecommunications, military electronics, medical, aerospace, and automotive electronics, industrial electronics, and instrumentation.
The design of the required circuit is generated by sending it in a certain format to plotters and images for PCB manufacturing are produced. Following this step, the fabrication of the boards starts. In the next sections, we will understand various steps through which manufacturing of a printed circuit board take place:

• The very first step in board fabrication is machining that includes drilling to punch holes, route plotting using special types of machines and state-of-the-art technologies like laser and water jet cutting. It is important to inform you that the strength of board should be considered while making and fine holes with accurate diameters.
• Following machining, imaging is performed. This step involves the transformation of design pattern on to the each layer. The single and double-layered printed circuit boards involve printing of patterns through printing technology (that involves printing and etching). On the other hand, multi-layer boards involve photo imaging which is accomplished through flood screen printing, coating, roller laminating etc. Manufacturers also use the most recent technique, direct laser, and liquid crystal light imaging, to form excellent printed circuit board design.
• Next step is lamination, which is employed on multi-layer boards. During lamination process, epoxy resin infused glass sheets are placed between two PCB layers. To produce the strong bond between layers hydraulic press is used.
• Now the process of PCB fabrication reaches to plating. This is accomplished either through wet or through dry chemical process.
• As the final step in board manufacturing, etching is performed. In this unwanted metal is removed from the board surface. This is accomplished through dry or wet processes. The most important thing to focus upon is uniformity. In this, spraying of ammonia solution is done on the copper film and excess copper is removed at the same time protecting the pathways and pads.