Printed Circuit Board Products
RF Microwave: RF (Radio Frequency) and Microwave boards
RF Microwave: RF (Radio Frequency) and Microwave boards are specialized circuit boards designed to handle signals in the radio frequency and microwave frequency ranges. These boards are crucial in the design and operation of various wireless communication and radar systems. RF (Radio Frequency): Typically refers to frequencies ranging from 3 kHz to 300 GHz. Within this range, RF circuits often handle lower frequency bands up to around 1 GHz. Microwave: Refers to a subset of RF, generally from 300 MHz to 300 GHz, with practical applications typically starting from around 1 GHz.
Heat Sinks and Thermal Management in RF and Microwave Applications
In RF and microwave circuits, thermal management is critical because excessive heat can affect the performance and reliability of components like amplifiers, oscillators, and filters.
Heat Sinks are used to dissipate heat away from high-power components, they are often attached to the PCB and designed to maximize surface area for effective heat dissipation.
Thermal vias, heat spreaders, and thermally conductive materials are commonly used. For RF and microwave, managing heat is vital to maintain signal integrity and prevent drift in operating frequencies.
Controlled Impedance
Controlled Impedance refers to the characteristic impedance of a transmission line, which is crucial for maintaining signal integrity, especially in high-frequency circuits. Controlled impedance is essential in RF, microwave, and high-speed digital circuits where signal reflection and loss must be minimized. Achieved by precise control over the PCB trace width, height, dielectric material properties, and distance between traces. Tools like TDR (Time-Domain Reflectometry) are used for measurement.
HDI with Blind/Buried Stacked Vias
HDI (High-Density Interconnect) Refers to PCBs with a higher wiring density per unit area, often using finer lines/spaces, smaller vias, and more layers.
Blind/Buried Vias: are vias that don’t go all the way through the PCB. Blind visa connects an outer layer to one or more inner layers, while buried vias connect two or more inner layers but do not reach the outer layers.
Stacked Vias: In HDI PCBs, stacked vias (where multiple vias are stacked on top of each other) are used to save space and increase routing density.
Carbon Ink PCB
Carbon ink is used on PCBs to create conductive paths, typically for keypads, jumper connections, and sometimes for EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) shielding. It’s an economical alternative to using copper traces for certain low-current applications and is also used in capacitive touch sensors.
Edge Plating/Castellation
This involves plating the edges of a PCB with copper, providing additional surface area for grounding or for connecting multiple boards together. Castellations, are half-plated holes on the edge of a PCB, often used for creating module boards that can be soldered onto a motherboard, enabling easy and secure connections.
Advanced plating and etching capabilities allow Alpha Circuit to produce PC Boards with outer circuit layers upwards of 20 oz. copper surface thickness. Pictured is a two sided, 16 oz. finished copper surface. While the surface may look milled, this is the visual appearance of the etched copper surface. Alpha Circuit is UL approved for 6 oz. inner layer circuitry.