Laminating describes the process of building continuous layers of materials and bonding these layers to reinforce, protect, and waterproof various substances. The lamination process is an important step in the construction of a printed circuit board (PCB). Circuit board manufacturers use laminates to ensure that copper does not inadvertently conduct current or emit signals. The copper is laminated on the substrate, which is the physical canvas to which all the components of the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) are connected. Although the lamination requirements vary with the way the circuit board is used, the PCB lamination process is an essential part of manufacturing the circuit board.
Types of PCB lamination
The PCB lamination process occurs during manufacturing, that is, the inner layer, foil and prepreg are stacked, heated and pressed into a circuit board. Like many processes in circuit board manufacturing, methods and materials vary.
PCB lamination technology
A multi-layer PCBA is manufactured in each layer, either as a thin etched board or trace layer, and then laminated and bonded. In this standard process, the inner layer is heated intensely and pressure is applied to it before curing at high temperature. As the PCB cools slowly, release the pressure before laminating the circuit with photosensitive dry resist.
Teflon (PTFE) microwave laminates are usually used for RF circuit boards with high-speed signal flow. Features such as minimal electrical loss, tight depth tolerances, and reliable dielectric constant make it an ideal PCBA for RF applications.
When the PCB has two or more subsets, sequential lamination is a popular method. After creating a subset of multilayer PCBs in a separate process, insulating materials were used between each pair, and then a standard PCB lamination process was implemented. It should be noted that this method increases the time and cost of the construction process.
Sequential lamination is a basic technology in the manufacture of multilayer circuit boards. This term describes how to build PCBA in a multilayer structure by using copper sub-composites and insulating laminates. It allows complex tasks to be completed, such as etching paths on internal copper layers or drilling holes in buried vias. Without this technology, high-density interconnection (HDI) PCBA will not be more and more commonly used in electronic products.
PCB lamination process
In circuit board manufacturing, lamination is performed after the inner layer is applied to the PCB. It consists of base material, laminate, solder mask and silk screen.
