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Here is a selection of key words and technical terminology used in circuit board technology. This list will be maintained and extended.
| Term (translation) | Explanation |
|---|---|
| µBGA (micro ball grid array) | BGA with pitch < 1 mm |
| µVia (microvia) | Small blind via |
| A stage | Description for the degree of setting of resin systems e.g. in prepreg |
| ALIVH (Any Layer Internal Via Hole) | electrical connection between layers via conductive pastes |
| AOI (Automat. Opt. Inspection) | Test equipment for optical inspection |
| ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) | Component that was designed for a specific application |
| Etch | Chemically removing material e.g. using acid |
| Bare board | Circuit board with no components fitted |
| Base material (substrate, laminate) | Material of a circuit board |
| Exposure | Step in the photoplotting process, where a photosensitive layer is activated. |
| Silk screened component identification | White or yellow |
| Assembly | Placing the components onto the printed circuit |
| Assembled board | Printed circuit with components fitted |
| BGA (ball grid array) | Active component with two-dimensional pattern of connections using solder balls |
| Bending radius | Sharpest bend for flexible printed circuits |
| Black pad | Fault visible on the surface of electroless nickel/gold |
| Lead | Poisonous metal used in the alloy for conventional solder |
| Lead-free | European guideline RoHS, WEEE (2002/95/EU and 2002/96/EU) |
| Aperture tables | Definitions in Gerber files |
| Blind via | Blind via |
| Bottom | Underside of a circuit board, what used to be mostly the solder side |
| Bump | Contact point on component |
| Buried via | Completely internal through contact |
| CAD | Computer Aided Design |
| Conductive carbon varnish | Varnish containing graphite as a touch electrical contact |
| CEM1 | Cost effective base material |
| CEM3 | Cost effective base material |
| Circuit board | Board with a conductive circuit printed on it |
| COB | (Chip On Board) Wire bond technology |
| DGA | (Die Grid Array) Component with a pattern of bumps directly on the chip |
| Thick copper (solid copper) | Option for tracks, to dissipate the heat resulting from high currents and losses |
| TPH | (Through Plated Holed) hole with a metallised wall, copper sleeve |
| Drill | Usually a CNC mechanism to make a round hole |
| DSC | (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) a method to determine Tg |
| Layout | Conversion of circuit diagrams to a set of track & hole patterns |
| Cooling | Passive and active cooling as part of thermal management |
| EP | (epoxide) The resin system used in most types of base materials |
| Eurocard | 100 mm x 160 mm as a standard size for circuit boards |
| Extended Gerber | A format for printed circuit data |
| FP | Flat Pack |
| FBGA | Fine pitch BGA |
| FC | (Flip Chip) a chip that is connected directly to a circuit board via bumps |
| Flat Pack | Low profile electronic component |
| FR | (Flame Retardant) i.e. self extinguishing |
| FR1 | Base material made of phenolic resin and hard paper |
| FR2 | Base material made of phenolic resin and hard paper |
| FR3 | Base material made of epoxy resin and hard paper |
| FR4 | Base material made of epoxy resin as a glass fibre composite |
| FR5 | High temperature FR4 |
| Printed circuit | Circuit board derived from a silk-screen print of an etch-resist varnish. Hence "printed circuit" |
| Printed resistor | Carbon print to produce resistors, amongst other things |
| Glass fabric | Reinforcing mats for resin-based circuit board systems |
| HAL | (Hot Air Levelling) Producing finish by immersion in liquid tin |
| HDI | High Density Interconnection, mostly using microvias |
| Heatsink | Thick sheet copper or aluminium glued to a circuit board to dissipate heat |
| HMD | Hole Mounted Device i.e. component with leads that go through the board |
| Controlled impedance | Calculation, manufacture and test of impedance using defined geometries and materials |
| Inlay technology | Copper inlay in circuit boards for high thermal transport |
| Integrated inductance | Coil produced by layout on internal layers of multilayer boards |
| Integrated capacitance | Deliberate use of internal layers of multilayer boards as capacitors |
| Junction | An interface within semiconductors, specifies the location of the source of heat for power components |
| Laminate | Laminate a layer e.g. to laminate copper on a base material or to laminate covering/protective films |
| Surface leakage current | Current flowing through surface resistance |
| Copper lamination | Metallic, copper sheet attached to base material |
| Laminate (press) | Sticking layers together, using pressure and sometimes heat |
| Laser cutting | A CNC mechanism to cut using a laser beam |
| LDI | Laser Direct Imaging for photoresists, resist layers, solder resist |
| Track spacing | The spacing between adjacent tracks, measured at the base of the conductor |
| Track width | The width of conductors, measured at the base of the track |
| Hole master | A drill template as a mechanical template for mechanical processing by drilling |
| Solder covering varnish | Temporary, elastic, pull-off protective layer |
| Solder deposit | Pads with solder deposit, usually deposited electrolytically |
| Solder lacquer | Flux (which dries) from a spray can, on a rosin basis |
| Solder resist | Circuit board coating to protect from corrosion and solder flow |
| MCB | Multi Chip Board - i.e. a circuit board with many chips |
| Multilayer | A circuit board built up from multiple layers |
| NTPH | Not through-plated hole |
| Net list | List of the connections between the components to permit the circuit board to be electrically tested |
| Package | Encapsulation of chips and MCMs to produce components suitable for assembly. |
| Pad | Contact surface on the circuit board, solder eye or SMD connection |
| Panel | Circuit board blank in manufacturing format |
| Pattern | The copper structure on circuit boards |
| PCB | (Printed Circuit Board) board with a conductive circuit printed on it |
| PEN | Polyethylene naphthalate, a solderable, cost effective plastic for simple, flexible circuits. |
| PGA (pin grid array) | BGA with connecting legs, instead of balls/bumps |
| PI | Polyimide, a temperature-stable, thermosetting plastic for high temperature applications |
| Pitch | Spacing between pads |
| Plug | Connector |
| Via plug | To fill and maybe metallise vias |
| Pool | When a manufacturing panel includes several layouts |
| Prepreg | Resin impregnated glass fabric, where the resin has been semi-hardened. |
| Reflow | Soldering process where solder paste is melted |
| Resist | A covering pattern to resist chemical or physical processes, e.g. photoresist: a layer structured by a photolithographic process, which functions as an etch-resist or electrolysis resist. Metal resist: a "tin" layer made of copper as an etch resist when using alkali etchants |
| Scoring | Milling a groove to create a defined breaking point |
| Rogers | Supplier for HF material, LCP and PI-Flex |
| SBU | Sequential Build-Up, building up multilayer boards, layer by layer |
| Protective varnish | Protective coating for modules |
| Semiflex, semiflexible printed circuits | Half flexible printed circuit e.g. made of thin FR4 |
| Countersinks | Cone-shaped extensions of holes, metallised or non-metallised |
| SMD | Surface Mounted Device i.e. a component for SMT |
| SMT | Surface Mount Technology, i.e. fitting components to the surface only of circuit boards |
| Proof voltage | The ability of base material to insulate high voltages |
| Rigid-flex | Rigid circuit boards which are connected via flexible printed circuits |
| Connector gold | Electroplated hard gold coating for connector strips |
| Teflon | Trade name for PTFE products from DuPont |
| Tenting | Holes being covered by films such as solder resist and other resist films |
| Downwards milling | Milling along the Z axis e.g. for cavities in semiflex/rigid-flex printed circuits |
| Treatment | Roughening, processing of copper foil to improve adhesion |
| TS bonding | Thermally supported ultrasonic bonding, gold wire bonds |
| US bonding | Ultrasonic bonding using aluminium wire |
| Loss factor | Measure for loss |
| Twisting | Mis-shaping of a circuit board so that opposite edges are no longer parallel |
| Warping | Two dimensional curvature of a circuit board |
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