Design Elements that Influence the Thickness of Printed Circuit Boards

Design Elements that Influence the Thickness of printed circuit boards

Plenty of factors influence the thickness of your PCB design. Therefore if you are a circuit board designer, it would become prudent to consider the following.

Copper thickness. The thickness of copper always proves instrumental in the optimization of signal flows. Therefore, you have to determine the thickness of the copper layer based on the amount of current that needs to pass across the circuit. However, the thicker the copper layer, the thicker the circuit board needs to become. The common standard copper thickness range is 1-2 oz.

Board materials. Depending on the materials you choose to incorporate into the board, the longevity and operation of a circuit board subsequently influence the board size. In most instances, the materials will include the laminate, substrate, silkscreen, and solder mask. However, the laminate and substrate influence the board size the most as they prove instrumental in offering and maintaining the structure of the circuit board. The substrate may entail glass weave, paper, epoxy resin, or ceramic.

Amount of layers in the printed circuit board. The layer numbers of a PCB have influenced the thickness of a circuit board. For instance, a 2-6 layer board can fulfill the standard printed circuit board thickness, while a board with eight layers can fall outside this threshold. For multi-layer PCBs, manufacturers might find it difficult to constrain themselves within the 0.8mm size. Therefore, always determine whether your circuit board requires multiple layers before picking a board thickness. If not, you can always reduce the layers and maintain the 0.8mm thickness.

Signal types. printed circuit boards often carry a diverse range of signals, which require specific board materials. The trickle-down effect of all this determines the size of the PCB, especially after considering the impact of already discussed factors.

Via types

It becomes crucial to understand the type of via that will feature your PCB to know how thick to make the circuit board. Vias include the micro via, through via, via-in-pad, blind vias, and buried via. For instance, a micro via will need a thin circuit board.  

Operating environment.  Together with the circuit board materials, a board’s thickness will always play a pivotal role in determining the PCB’s resistance and conductivity. It, therefore, implies that different board thicknesses might prove suitable in diverse environments. For instance, a 0.8mm flexible and thin board might become inappropriate for rugged and rough operating terrains. Similarly, a thicker board containing a thicker copper trace may prove thermally unstable when transmitting higher currents. However, remember that other aspects such as connectors, among other components, also prove vital because they have specific performance and material requirements that they have to fulfill.

Manufacturing factors also play a key role in determining the size of your circuit board. Aspects such as the copper thickness, number of layers, customization needs, and need for depanelizing often require specific equipment and specialized technical know-how to pull off. So the manufacturer you end up contracting for their services indirectly determines how thick your PCB will become.

So how can you go about a custom 0.8mm circuit board, especially when you want one? The simple answer would entail contacting us at our official ONESEINE PCB and Assembly Company website. However, before you contact us for inquiries, it becomes useful to understand some crucial aspects of ordering custom PCBs.

printed circuit boards get manufactured in panels or sheets that come as readily available products. The products often have common sizes, and you will likely find your contracted manufacturer stocking these types of PCBs or have a mechanism of obtaining them quickly. However, such a scenario does not preclude the ability of the CM to offer other sizes, provided they fit within the confines of the capability of the manufacturer’s equipment and processing methods.  Additionally, such custom circuit board sizes also get bogged down by the period limitation of procuring the panels or sheets from a respective manufacturer. You, therefore, have to note this aspect, besides the other crucial aspects detailed below, before engaging a manufacturer for the 0.8mm board.